Alliance
by krystal lazuli
Summary: This is the first story in the Infinity series. This tale is set after The Dark World. After seeing it, I found myself wondering about several things I noted in the movie. This is my story of what happens when Loki becomes the King of Asgard. This tale is now complete, but there is more to tell. I hope you enjoy this one, and continue with the sequel "Exile".
1. Chapter 1: Friend or Foe

_**Author's Note: **__Welcome to my story. I hope you enjoy it. _

≈≈≈_**Prologue≈≈≈**_

The scouting party from Asgard was growing weary from following their leader, Volstagg. The general consensus among the party was that Volstagg was going to stay out in the wilds until he found what he was looking for; what that was, they could not guess. They had been on this particular mission for two weeks and his determination had not dwindled, even though there were no signs of any intruders. At least, there had not been until this morning when one of the trackers had spotted a small trail. They had been following it now for three hours and from all signs, they were closing in on the intruders.

Volstagg finally paused and pointed towards an opening ahead. Those closest to him could not see anything, but they did not argue. Volstagg motioned silently, indicating he wanted the group to split up and surround the glade. Glad of something to do, the group split up. As they neared the glade it was apparent that someone was indeed occupying the area. The scouting party drew their weapons out and waited for a signal.

Volstagg led a small group closer to the glade until he could see who was there and what they were doing. A small party of cloaked figures was seated around a fire. Hoods covered their heads making it impossible to determine who or what they were. Volstagg counted fourteen in the group. A small smile crossed his face, as he knew his party easily outnumbered the group. He moved even closer and shouted out, "Who are you and what business do you have with Asgard?" Signaling his men as he spoke, the warriors quickly surrounded the small party.

One of the figures rose slowly and turned to face Volstagg, no sign of any weapons. A soft voice finally answered, "We mean no harm. We are traveling to Asgard with intentions to meet with Odin."

Volstagg grunted. "Really? Then why are you skulking on the outskirts of Asgard instead of simply coming right to the gates?"

"Skulking?" A soft laugh erupted from the group, this one a feminine voice. A second person rose and moved to stand next to the first, this one much shorter than the initial speaker. "Hardly skulking". She began to move closer to where Volstagg stood, followed closely by the taller one.

"Who are you and why do you hide your faces? Do you fear that we will recognize you for the enemies that you most likely are?" Volstagg's voice was demanding.

The taller of the two pulled his hood off to reveal an aquiline face. "Not enemies Volstagg. We do travel in peace. I am Mythean of Cartherion; we are Vanir.

Volstagg was surprised they knew his name, but allowed no sign of that to cross his face. That they claimed to be Vanir surprised him. He almost wished Hogun had joined him on this particular venture for he would know if this one spoke the truth.

By now the pair had almost reached him. The woman still hid beneath her hood. Glittering eyes shone out, but little else could be seen. He noted the rich fabric of her cloak, black at first, then seeming to change to a subtle shade of blue. They stopped a few feet away. She finally spoke again, ""You really do not need that," She pointed to the sword he had pointed at her.

He did not lower his blade. "Truly? You are fortunate we did not simply kill you."

The woman reached up and pulled the hood back, allowing her face to be seen. Jet-black hair framed her face, a smile danced upon her lips, but it was the ice blue eyes that captured his full attention. "You would have been dead had you tried," Her voice was soft, with a slight accent he did not recognize.

Volstagg laughed at her claim. "You think so? We easily outnumber your party." He signaled the others to step forward. The troop of close to one hundred warriors moved out of the shelter of the woods.

Now the woman smiled, her eyes danced with delight. "And I command the Thirteen," The rest of her party had risen and come to stand behind her. "I am Katirya, daughter of Beythran."

Volstagg could not conceal the surprise at that announcement. He knew of Beythran, for Freya had been known to visit her often and many times he had been in the party escorting her. The reference to the Thirteen stymied him. They were simply legends, or so he had thought. That her daughter stood before him and claimed to command these provided an interesting puzzle. He looked curiously at the group and spoke his thoughts aloud. "But you are not armed, thus thirteen against even thirty of my warriors," he shrugged at the obvious conclusion, "the chances for your survival are doubtful."

"Indeed? Not all weapons are blades such as yours." As she spoke, her right arm swept upwards and a fog began to surround the glade; shrill screams could be heard beyond the glade. The rest of her party, the Thirteen as she had called them, suddenly disappeared.

His men began to shuffle uncomfortably at the unnatural events. Volstagg shot them stern warning glances. The men settled, but just as quickly as they had disappeared, the Thirteen reappeared outside the circle surrounding Katirya, only this time they were clearly armed. His men crowded closer to the center.

"Magic!" He spat at her. "I would sooner fight with a sword than trust to magic!"

"Do not discount that which you do not understand." She lowered her arm and the fog dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. "But we can discuss this later. For now, I would rather continue on my journey to Asgard. As Mythean indicated, we are traveling to Asgard to speak with Odin. I seek to reaffirm the alliance of Catherion and Asgard. I would seek council with him as well as extend our respect at the loss of Freya."

"Then you are too late. Odin is dead."

"Indeed?" Katirya considered this news. "We had not heard of his death. Who rules in his stead? Thor?"

"No, Loki has assumed the throne. Thor has sworn to protect the nine realms."

"Loki?" She looked at him, almost as if she were trying to read his mind. "That is interesting. It seems we are coming at a time of great changes. Come, lead on my lord for Asgard is indeed our destination and I see even more clearly the need for council from the brothers."

**AUTHORS NOTE:** _I am aware that Odin's wife's name is not Freya. However, if I use the correct name, it flags as an inappropriate word. Rather than risk the gods that oversee this site and have either the story banned or being required to change the rating on the story, I have use writer's discretion to use the name of another Norse goddess, Freya, who is sometimes confused with Odin's wife._

Chapter 1: Friend or Foe?

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Loki paced one of the many balconies overlooking Asgard, periodically pausing to revel in the sight of the glorious city before him. He still could not believe his brother had so willingly given up the throne in favor of him.

His thoughts wandered over the many events that had led to this. Thor still did not know that he had made his confession to Loki and not to Odin. His choice to give the throne to Loki had been surprising to many and Loki had pretended to be surprised as well. When Thor had left the throne room after telling 'Odin' his choice, Loki had waited a short time before approaching his brother. A simple tale of his 'rescue' had satisfied his brother, and it truly had not been far from the truth. Thor had been so thrilled to see his brother alive he had not cared for details.

Odin had not appeared at dinner that evening, and when Thor went to find him he discovered his father had slipped into an Odinsleep. This time there was no Freya to sit by his side to guide him back, so the sleep had quickly turned to death. Thor had been quick to tell Loki of his choice and thus the throne had come so easily to Loki.

A horn announcing the return of a hunting party drew Loki back to the present. Moving swiftly to look down to the gates, he recognized Volstagg's bright red hair. He sighed softly, knowing that the warrior did not trust him; in fact, few of his brother's friends trusted him. Volstagg's response had been to search for intruders. Sif simply followed Thor like a puppy, while the other two had avoided him. This time it seemed Volstagg had gotten his wish and discovered some intruders.

He returned his attention to the scouting party, noting a small group surrounded by the warriors. The scouting party easily outnumbered their prisoners, but something about the entire procession bothered him. He watched as they entered through the gates into a courtyard. He could not discern much as they wore dark cloaks with hoods covering their heads. His perch was so high he would not have been able to see any details.

The troop halted as they entered into the courtyard. There was a flurry of movement as people ran out of the stables to begin attending to the horses. The prisoners had dismounted and gathered together. He was suddenly aware that one of them had turned their head and was staring straight up at him. He took a half step back, then stopped. There was no way anyone could have seen him, much less known who he was, not from that distance.

A soft feminine laugh almost caused him to turn around, but he knew he was alone on the balcony. He frowned… thinking, remembering time spent during his youth with his mother. Could it be? He stepped back to look down once again, not realizing he spoke, but the name "Katirya" floated through the room. The watcher lifted their arm in a small salute, bowed their head and whirled around, their cloak swirling about them as they began to follow after Volstagg.

He turned and began to head down to where they most likely would be held until it was decided if they were friend or foe. Many thoughts crossed his mind… What if it was a trap? Perhaps someone trying to enter Asgard and gain an audience with him?

Pausing for only a moment before leaving, he created an illusion of one of the palace guards. For some reason, he felt he needed to go in disguise first. He needed to discover the purpose of the new arrivals before meeting them as Loki.

He started down a staircase, pausing only when a guard came running up to him. "Have you seen the Loki?"

Loki shook his head, not replying.

"Well, get yourself down to the courtyard, Volstagg has ordered all guards to attend as he captured some prisoners on his latest rounds. I'm off to find Loki." The guard took off not bothering to see if Loki obeyed.

Smiling to himself as it continued to amaze him that no one saw through his little tricks, Loki continued his trek to the courtyard.

_**Author's note: **__I would like to thank everyone who is reading this story. I enjoy seeing the numbers grow of people visiting it along with the comments I have received. Please feel free to send me a message if you have any comments. I enjoy reading them._

_I would like extend a big thank you to my good friend Judy who is taking the time to edit each chapter for me before I publish. Hopefully we are catching all the errors, but if you do find one, please feel free to contact me so I can correct them._


	2. Chapter 2: A Tiny Threat

Chapter 2: A Tiny Threat

~∫ _Thor ∫~_

Thor watched as the practice session began to wind down. Most of the trainees were doing well and were ready for battle if the need arose. Things had been quiet, and his thoughts quickly turned to Jane Foster. He thought about heading out to visit with Heimdall, to ask after her and find out what she was doing. He was tempted to go visit her, but something held him back.

A sudden commotion startled him out of his thoughts. A guard raced in, his eyes darting about the practice area. When he finally saw Thor, he ran to him.

"Why the haste?" Thor addressed the guard as he ran towards him. "Is Asgard under attack?" He grinned at that thought. It had been so quiet he almost wished it was true.

"My lord," The guard bowed his head respectfully. "Volstagg has returned and they discovered a small party on the borders. They have brought them directly here and they seek your counsel."

Thor frowned at him, "Have you spoken to my brother yet?"

Realizing his mistake, the guard shook his head. "We cannot find him."

"Well, send someone to seek him out and I shall head down and begin to sort this out. How many are there?"

"Only fourteen, my lord."

"Fourteen? And Volstagg is concerned with this? Who are they?"

"I know not, I was simply sent to inform you."

"Well, you have done your duty. Now go find my brother and send him down as well. I shall go see to this tiny threat."

Fourteen? Volstagg had headed out with close to one hundred so he doubted there was any threat. He headed down towards the main gates.


	3. Chapter 3: Interrogation

Chapter 3: Interrogation

~∫ _Thor ∫~_

Thor moved swiftly down towards the gates, his face intent on his mission, Sif and Hogun following close on his heels. As they passed one of the local pubs, Hogun noticed Fandral with two ladies seated upon his lap. Fandral waved at Hogun, indicating that his presence was needed. Fandral took one look at Thor's face and with a word whispered to each lady, he stood and raced to join up.

"What is going on?" he asked as soon as he caught up.

"Ah, Fandral," Thor grinned at his friends. "So nice of you to find time to join us. Word has it that Volstagg has 'captured' a group of invaders."

"Volstagg finally found someone?"

"Aye, and he feels them a threat. All fourteen of them." Thor was still a bit bemused by the information and hoped to find Volstagg soon so he could get the story before he confronted the invaders.

As they continued down towards the gates, more guards joined the procession. Loki had taken advantage of this and was marching along behind his brother, curious to see if it was indeed his childhood friend. As the throng rounded a corner, they found Volstagg waiting impatiently in the courtyard.

"Ah, Thor. There you are," Volstagg glanced at the large group following Thor. "Brought enough with you?"

Thor turned to glance at the group, not having realized that their numbers had grown as they hurried through the city. "Well… " he shrugged it off. "I guess word got out that you had captured a dangerous group of invaders."

Volstagg nodded. "Aye, I would say dangerous." He quickly retold the story of the capture and added, "I'm not one to be afraid of strange doings, but that fog was rather unnatural, more like something…"

Thor frowned. "I know, that my brother might do. I do not know what it is going to take for you all to realize, but he is the better man for the throne."

The four friends shifted uncomfortably, realizing that he knew their opinion of his brother. None offered any response. Thor was well aware they did not trust Loki, but he hoped one day they would come to understand. Now was simply not the time to debate it. Thor looked directly at Volstagg. "So, it is a party of fourteen total, and one who claims to be Katirya?"

"Aye, she says she commands the Thirteen," Volstagg paused a moment. "I thought they were only legend."

"Did she state any purpose for her travels? It is rare for any to travel out of Cartherion."

"Yes she did. Stated she wished to reaffirm the alliance with Asgard and wanted to speak with your father. She had heard of the passing of your mother, but not your father. She included her respects to that effect."

Thor considered the information. With a sigh, he moved to open the door.

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya had overheard the conversation from her seat upon a bench along the wall. The voices had drifted in through one of the windows. She noted a guard double-checking that they were all there. She quickly dropped her head and managed to conceal herself so that it appeared that she was no longer in the room.

The guard sucked in his breath and quickly recounted the group. "My lord!" he shouted just as the door opened. "It seems one has escaped!"

"Escaped? How?" Thor strode into the room followed closely by his friends and many of the guards who had joined him on his march to the gates.

"I do not know my lord." The guard was visibly upset. Katirya began to feel a bit of compassion for his plight and was about to reveal herself when she caught sight of Loki in the guise of a guard. She could see through his trick, and she noted that his gaze was scanning the room until it settled upon her. A slight smile crossed his face. She returned the smile; glad that he had not forgotten the many tricks both her mother and his had taught him.

She rose slowly and moved towards the center of the room, allowing the concealment to disappear. Her companions had started to mill around in an attempt to confuse the guards for they were aware of her trick. "I am right here." She stepped into the center of the room, the cloak still covering her. "I was simply resting over upon the bench," she gestured briefly towards the bench she had just vacated.

She allowed the hood to fall softly from her face, allowing them to see her. Her black hair fell loosely about her, falling to just below her shoulders. A few braids had been woven into her hair, with bright blue gems glistening, gems that matched the blue of her eyes. The piercing gaze touched briefly upon each person standing in the room, and each one felt as if she had read their mind, many shifting uncomfortably.

When her gaze met Loki's, she simply heard the diminutive name he had always called her

'_Ah, Kiri. What brings you to Asgard?' _

'_It is good to see you as well, my friend.'_

She laughed softly then continued her inspection. Satisfied at what she learned, she finally focused once more on Thor. Thor glanced momentarily on the guard whose gaze had captured hers the longest. Not seeing anything amiss, he focused back upon her.

"My lord, I am sorry to hear of your recent losses. We had word of your mother's passing before we departed, but had not heard of your father's death," Katirya bowed her head slightly as she spoke. She finally tilted it slightly so that she could see Loki as she spoke to Thor. Her ice blue eyes darted back and forth, between the two brothers and Thor's four friends, watching for signs of how her presence was being received.

Thor nodded. "Aye, it has been a double loss for both myself and my brother. I know your mother was a great friend to mine."

"Yes, they were. I am sure that they are both now looking down upon their children laughing at the predicaments we manage to entangle ourselves in." Her eyes shot quickly to Loki before adding. "I fear we lost my mother three years ago."

"I am sorry for your loss as well, my lady. I had not heard."

She reached up to undo the clasp at her throat, allowing the cloak to fall from her shoulders. One of her companions swiftly stepped forward to capture it before it hit the ground, folding it over his arm. As her cloak was taken she was revealed fully for the first time, her clothing the deeper hues of an ocean storm. Her bodice was crafted of leather that shifted from black to a deep blue. It had a heart-shaped neckline with a leather strap just below her collarbone and a golden buckle held the short jacket over her shoulders. The buckle matched the golden loops that fell to each side of the bodice below her breasts to her waist. She wore an ornate belt engraved with runes that fastened with an intriguing golden buckle. She carried no weapons except for the small black dirk sheathed at her hip. Her skirt was simple and full, another shade of dark blue that complemented the varying shades of the bodice with a white chemise beneath that looked like frothy waves against the blues. It was not just her beauty that captured the attention of all in the room, but also the power she radiated from within.

'_You have indeed grown up Kiri.'_

She struggled to hold back the laughter at Loki's thoughts. She quickly noted the mirth in his eyes as he noted her situation.

Clasping her hands in front of her, she spoke demurely once more, though there was no mistaking the power she commanded. "I have also come to renew our alliance with Asgard." Her eyes focused suddenly upon the ground as she took a deep breath, her breasts rising before she raised them once again to stare directly at Thor. "I am now the High Queen of Cartherion."

The announcement shocked many within the room, Volstagg the most. He sucked his breath in, realizing how it must have looked when he 'captured' her. "My lady," he stuttered. "I did not …"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "You were not aware, so you did nothing wrong. I commend Asgard on the diligence of its warriors."

"I also come on a mission that is of grave importance for both our lands. I had hoped to seek the counsel of your father, but it seems I am too late for that. Instead, I hope you and your brother can aid me." This time she chose to not look at Loki, focusing solely upon Thor.

"Ah, yes. My brother has assumed the throne." He could sense the displeasure behind him from his friends as he spoke those words, but ignored it as he continued. "I am sorry he is not here to greet you for I know it would have pleased him."

"Yes, I look forward," Katirya paused and darted a quick glance at Loki once more, "to **seeing **him again." She smiled as she said this last part, having made sure to emphasize the one word. "He came often with your mother to visit my mother. I am certain he is most likely busy with some important business of the realm."

Thor let out a sigh. "Perhaps. With my brother, I cannot always tell what he is about. I shall have someone escort you to your rooms so you can freshen up whilst I search for him." he pointed to two men. "Go see that the guest rooms are made ready." Then looking at the array of guards around the room, he pointed to one, Loki. "And you, please escort the queen and her companions to the rooms."

Loki lifted one eyebrow slightly, surprised by the choice. Then he caught sight of the half smile upon Katirya's mouth.

'_You have learned much since last we met.'_

'_Indeed.'_

Katirya bowed her head in response to Thor's offer. "We thank you, and I shall await an audience with you and your brother at your pleasure." With those words, she gathered her companions and began to walk towards the door. Pausing at the doorway, she waited for her escort to lead the way.


	4. Chapter 4: Interlude

Chapter 4: Interlude

•**£• **_Loki__** •£•**_

Loki led the group out of the room and began to head upwards towards where the guest rooms were located. The group moved silently through the streets, capturing the attention of many Asgardians, curious as to who the visitors were.

As they walked, his mind wandered back to his childhood when he and his mother would travel to visit Beythran and her family. His mother had studied with Beythran, where she had learned much of her magic; magic she had later taught him. Katirya had been about the same age so had joined in their sessions, but often had to be instructed multiple times so her mother often dismissed her. He would later catch up with her and they would play merrily until it was time for the return trip to Asgard. She had not shown any great abilities at the time so her announcement that she was now queen of her people had surprised him.

Finally they arrived at the quieter areas of the city. Loki knew Katirya was right behind him; he could sense her presence with the remainder of the group trailing behind. He cautiously checked the hallway they had entered and seeing no one, quickly returned to his normal form and turned to face Katirya. Moving forward, he grabbed his childhood friend about her waist and lifted her easily up into the air. He noted her companions had tensed up and moved their hands closer to their weapons, but when she laughed aloud, they relaxed.

"Ah, Kiri," he set her down and noted she had to tilt her head to look up at him. Her hands rested lightly upon his forearms. "I guess you have not grown up quite as much as I thought. Still short."

She slapped his arm sharply, "Watch what you say, my friend." She laughed once more. "I do hope you do not often play tricks like that. It is no wonder that many still do not trust you if you do."

He shook his head as he realized she was fully aware of the distrust that prevailed throughout Asgard. "No, but I had to be certain it was you and not some trap," He noticed her nod at that and went on. "Which brings up the question of why you are here. I am surprised that you left Cartherion, not that I am displeased, for it is good to see you again."

She hesitated a few moments before answering. "As I said below, my main purpose is to seek counsel," she paused several seconds before continuing. "And perhaps aid."

"Aid?" Loki looked at her curiously. "And precisely why would the queen of Cartherion require aid? And more to that… HOW did you manage to become queen? I knew your mother was on one of the councils, but did not realize that you were so highly connected. And then there is the question of your…" he hesitated, not wanting to insult her.

"My abilities?" She finished the sentence for him with a soft laugh. "Aye, those always were in question, were they not?" She too remembered the many sessions she had been dismissed from. A small smile curled upon her lips.

"Well, yes, now that you mention them. I recall your mother sending you away more often than not as you seemed hell-bent on ignoring the instructions and preferring to create something more annoying than purposeful." He grinned down at her, then taking one of her arms, he turned and resumed their journey.

"Well, that is part of the reason I am here, and have ascended to the title I now hold. It is something that I wish to discuss with you and your brother. Rather than retelling the tale, I wish to wait until we can all sit and talk if you do not mind." she looked down at this point, hiding her eyes as she walked with him.

"As you wish. In fact," he stopped before a set of doors, "these quarters ought to suffice for you and," he suddenly stopped speaking as he glanced back at the group with her. "The Thirteen? I did not realize they still existed."

"They do now." She smiled up at him, then put her hand upon the doorknob and turned it. Opening the door, she entered into the chambers and looked around. Pleased with what she saw, she motioned for her group to enter. Turning she looked back up at the tall god. "I do believe your brother is about to enter this hallway."

Loki frowned and stared down at her. "How do you…?" He then heard footsteps approaching and turned just as Thor entered the hallway. "Brother! Thank you for taking care of our guests. I feel so remiss at having missed their arrival." He could hear Katirya's chuckle behind him.

Thor strode purposefully up to his brother. "There you are! I have been searching all over the city for you, but I see you have met up with Queen Katirya."

Loki pretended surprise at that comment. "Queen? Kiri you are now a queen?" He turned back to look at Katirya. "You failed to mention that, my friend. You have indeed come a long way, and have many questions to answer."

"Yes," she spoke softly. "Queen; and as I told your brother, I have much to discuss with you both. Would you allow me a few moments to freshen up? I have been traveling for some time and would appreciate a chance to clean up."

"Of course," both brothers replied simultaneously then laughed at themselves.

"I will send someone to escort you to us when you are ready," Loki offered her.

She shook her head. "That shall not be necessary. Please, allow me one hour, and then we shall meet and I can explain my reasons for coming here."


	5. Chapter 5: Brothers

Chapter 5: Brothers

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

Thor watched as Katirya closed the door to her rooms then looked at his brother. "Kiri?"

Loki laughed lightly. "Yes, a nickname her mother gave. She felt that Kiri's true name was stronger than she was. It seems she has grown into it if she has now become queen."

Thor looked closely at his brother. He wanted to ask him where he had been, but refrained. He knew Loki still struggled with people trusting him and felt this might simply add to that problem. Instead, as they walked towards the upper levels, he decided to focus on the new arrivals. "Well, I suppose this gives us a reason to host a feast tonight. The people will be happy to welcome one."

"Indeed. I am curious, I understand that Volstagg discovered them."

Thor quickly related the tale Volstagg had told, then looked at Loki. "What do you know of this '_thirteen'_ that she speaks of? I had thought them only to be legend."

"Ah, yes, but remember, many legends are based on truth." Loki stopped and turned to face Thor as he changed the subject. "Tell me brother, are you still happy with your choice? What of Jane?"

Thor frowned. "I do not wish to speak of her right now." He wasn't sure himself what he wanted, but he knew he did not want to rule. The choices to be made as king were not as simple as the ones he made on a daily basis. His decision had been the best. Jane was another matter entirely. She did not belong here and he did not belong on Earth.

As if reading his mind, Loki spoke softly. "She would be welcome here, brother."

"I do not think she would be happy," Thor replied. "She has her work to consider. That is important to her."

"Have you asked her?" Loki continued walking once more.

"You are right, I should ask her. Perhaps after we find out what your friend wants I might have time to visit with her. Things have been quiet of late. But first, let us plan a feast for tonight," Thor clapped his brother on the shoulders as they walked. "We could all use a bit of fun."


	6. Chapter 6: Council

Chapter 6: Council – A History Lesson

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Once the brothers had departed, Katirya took stock of the suite of rooms that had been assigned to her. They were luxuriously appointed, with attention to detail for guests staying in Asgard. She wandered through each room and finally selected one for herself. At first, she wished she had asked for more time before the meeting in order to enjoy the delights that the rooms offered, then realized if she wanted to succeed in her mission, she needed to start immediately. There would be plenty of time later to relax and enjoy the luxuries such as those found in these rooms.

She chose to wear the same clothes she had traveled in, but added a silver circlet upon her brow set with a pale green stone. The circlet was an intricate design and seemed to almost blend into the weaves in her hair.

Precisely one hour after entering her chambers, Katirya motioned for her companions to wait for her and left to seek out Thor and Loki. As she started down one hallway, she became aware of a guard following her. Ignoring him, she headed towards the upper levels and easily found her way to a council room offset from the throne room. Before entering it, she paused a moment to view the throne itself. The huge room centered on the golden throne itself. She recalled from a visit during her childhood how Odin had looked sitting up there and wondered how well the throne sat with Loki. It had been a surprise to discover he was now king. In many ways, it changed her purpose here, but she would proceed carefully. She had not come this far simply to fail.

Taking a deep breath, she entered into the council chamber, noting that Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral and Sif were already seated at the table along with Thor, while a number of the palace guards ranged along the walls. She scanned the room to discover Loki standing quietly in a corner observing everything and everyone, reminding her almost of a spider surveying his web. When her eyes met his, he smiled slightly and moved to a chair indicating she could sit. She made sure to close her mind to any and all thoughts from everyone in the room.

"Kiri," he greeted her as he stood behind the chair waiting for her to sit. Leaning down closer, he spoke quietly. "Or should I say Queen Katirya?"

"Kiri is fine." She turned her head to look up at him, trying to determine his mood, then allowed him to seat her and glanced about at the others. Everyone was staring at her, curious as to her purpose in traveling to Asgard.

Loki moved to his position at the table and sat down. "I must say, it is a delight to see you. I am surprised you have left the borders of Cartherion. It is not a common event."

Katirya laughed, knowing he voiced the opinion of everyone at the table. She picked up the glass of water that sat in front of her and took a sip before responding. "How politely you put it, when you simply want to know why the hell I am here, no?" She noticed several stifled laughs at her direct response. "And I shall explain, but first, I do offer my sympathy to you for the loss of both Freya and Odin. The double loss is deeply felt, I see." Her eyes scanned the entire table once again and noted everyone seemed in agreement with her statement.

"That was one of the reasons for my visit. Another was to renew our alliance with Asgard." She waited to see how Loki would respond to that.

"That, my friend, I find most interesting," Loki's voice was soft, almost insulting. "First, that you feel the need to renew it and second, how exactly did you end up in a position that would even have any semblance of power," Loki was quick to get to the point and she noted several felt he was almost bordering on rudeness.

Katirya's eyes flashed at his comments. "Yes, you would find it odd. What do you, any of you," and here she looked at everyone seated at the table, "know of the process of rule in Cartherion?"

Volstagg spoke up first. "Well, I am aware that there are fourteen ruling families, and the leader is chosen from one of them."

Katirya nodded. "Aye, that is how it has been in recent times, but not always. I hope you will all bear with me, but I feel you might better understand my reasons for coming here if you understand the history of my lands. Cartherion was once a violent land, with each of those fourteen families trying to rule it, until Agneethe discovered the Cronuth stone and used it to dominate the other clans. She used it to bind the minds of one person from each of the other families to her will, thus creating the original Thirteen."

"So there really once was a group known as the Thirteen?" Sif spoke up at that point, interrupting her explanation.

Katirya showed no sign of irritation, in fact, she was glad she had asked that particular question. "Yes, and they were an extension of Agneethe, amplifying her powers as she had chosen the most powerful from each clan. The Thirteen have always existed since then and each time there is a supreme ruler, the ones chosen are bound to the minds and souls of all previous members of the group."

"So, they never die?"

Katirya turned to focus on Sif who had asked that question. "No, they never die. Their powers and memories are passed on to the next chosen one, but never are they stronger than the one true leader."

"These powers you speak of," Thor began. "What are they? I know your mother was known for her magic as that is how my mother learned many of her tricks, which she then taught to my brother."

Katirya noticed that Loki's eyes had narrowed. That brought to mind his 'death' and later reappearance with the Chitauri when he had attempted to rule Earth. He clearly had learned much after his disappearance from Asgard. She wondered where he had been, what he had learned and who his mentor had been. She had many questions she wished to ask, but held back. It reminded her she needed to be wary of him now. He was not the childhood friend she remembered, just as she was not the same.

"Magic as you call it, is simply one of the two powers all Cartherions possess. We call those who are strong in magic to be Creators. My mother was a great Creator, thus explaining why she was one of the ruling members of my family. The members of the second group are known as Seekers and they are able to view the minds of others. Those who have strength with this power can even control the minds of lesser individuals. Most Cartherions are stronger in one area than the other and rarely is there one who has strength in both. The rare individual comes along once in a great while who is not only a great Creator, but also a great Seeker. Agneethe was one such person, and with the Cronuth stone, was able to expand those powers even more, which is how she became our supreme ruler and gathered all the clans to her rule."

Loki had remained silent through the short history lesson. He knew much of what Katirya had said, having visited often, but the information about that Cronuth stone was new to him. He looked up to the stone in the circlet Katirya wore.

Katirya noticed him staring and returned the look, not answering his implied question either in thought or voice.

"Things remained fairly constant while Agneethe lived, with all the clans living peacefully together, but before she died, she began the tradition of training and testing that has remained even today. She felt that the powers she possessed would eventually repeat in another, so declared that the supreme ruler, the one who could control the Thirteen, would only be one who could control the Cronuth stone. There have been many generations with none who could, so at those times, the leader is simply chosen from the most powerful person among the fourteen families. We have had several who have been able to control the stone, but the most recent, Storvirken, was not a good leader. The power was too much for him, combined with the fact that somehow he had managed to…" She paused at this point, uncertain if she wished to reveal the next piece of information.

"Managed to what?" Fandral finally asked when her silence continued.

Katirya frowned and looked down at the table in front of her. She decided to finally complete the thought. "The Mind stone, one of the Infinity gems. Somehow Storvirken came into possession of it, and combined with the power from the Cronuth stone, he became mad. He destroyed the heads of each family and our lands were in turmoil until he was defeated and the Mind stone was lost. Since then, the families have ensured that no one would assume control of the Cronuth stone."

"How did they do this?"

Katirya could not tell who had asked this as several had voiced the question at once. She still continued to focus on the pattern on the table.

"Murder; death of any child suspected of having any strong level of both powers. None are allowed to survive to take the test."

"But you are here and control the Thirteen… or so you say," Loki's voice came from behind her. She had not realized he had moved. Or had he? She looked up and he was still seated across from her. She refrained from looking behind her, knowing he was capable of any number of tricks. She needed to remember that. She was about to reply when she felt his hand upon her shoulder and heard him whisper in her ear. "And you are wearing the Cronuth stone, are you not?" Her eyes darted around the room, looking at the others, trying to determine what was reality, and what was a trick for there was only one Loki in the room. Just where was he? She felt the pressure of the hand removed but still did not look behind her. The Loki seated across from her suddenly smiled. 

'_I do control the Thirteen!' _Katirya finally opened her mind to almost scream at him. Her eyes blazed furiously and she noted he was staring directly at her. She was losing control of this meeting and she knew it. Snapping her gaze away from his, she closed her mind once more.

The door crashed open and movement behind her alerted her to a change of who was in the room. The Thirteen had sensed her loss of control, her sudden fear, and come. Several guards followed closely behind. "My lord!" one shouted out. "They came flying down the hall, we could not stop them."

Loki waved a hand dismissing them. "They are … welcome to join us." He looked at the strange group that had joined them. They still wore the hoods and cloaks they had traveled in. Dressed in black, they each wore a single sword at their side, but none had drawn them. They simply stood quietly in the room, a presence that was not entirely benevolent.

The others in the room shifted in their seats uncomfortably. They too sensed the degree of violence these people, or things, possessed. Katirya opened her mind for a moment to read what the others were thinking. Each questioned the purpose of the Thirteen, their intentions; they held them in a level of uncertainty - almost fear -and for that, each of the warriors was angered, for they did not like the feeling of fear.

'_What are you hiding, Kiri?'_

'_I might ask the same of you, Loki'_

Once again, she closed her mind and noticed a flash of anger cross Loki's face. That none of the others knew what had transpired surprised her, for the words had almost seemed to be shouted across the room.

Finally, Volstagg broke the silence, "So what does this have to do with your coming here?"

Taking a deep breath to settle her thoughts, Katirya replied. "I need aid. My mother was murdered for hiding my abilities from the others." Now she looked directly at Loki. "And clearly she did a good job. She discerned early in my life that I had superior powers. Knowing that I might be murdered if it were discovered, she taught me to hide it and trained me in secret. I was laughed at all my life for being the bumble-headed child, the one who was an idiot and had little or no powers. I suffered their insults in silence, knowing my life depended on it. When I attended the year of training, it was difficult to maintain the façade, but I managed. I also used the time to identify at least one member of each family that I felt I might be able to trust if it were to prove true that I could control the Cronuth stone."

She paused for a moment to and took a sip water. "The day of the test was interesting. I was one of the last allowed to test and most had lost interest in the process by the time it was my turn. This proved to be an advantage as it gave me the edge of surprise and sufficient time to bind the Thirteen to me. When I picked up the stone, the laughter was loud, but suddenly silenced when I summoned up the Thirteen and repeated the words of Agneethe. That night my mother was murdered. The council fears a ruler such as Storvirken was, even though much is different. They trust me not at all." Here she paused to stare directly at Loki, knowing her situation was not unlike his. "And for that, I do seek aid. If the council knows that Asgard supports my rule, they are less likely to question my position."

Loki had shifted uncomfortably when she had stared at him. Now she shifted her gaze to Thor. "Would you… do you… trust everyone that is in this room right now? Every single person?" Loki bristled in anger that she'd seemed to ask his brother and not him.

"Loki?" Thor turned to his brother. "I will personally vouch for the Warriors Three and Lady Sif."

Loki's lips tightened, his face impassive. "I would hope that you do, brother. They are your friends. The guards?" He looked at the men stationed around the room. "Why do you ask?"

"What I have to say now can go no further than this room." Katirya wasn't too happy to have so many in here, but she needed their help. Thor's friends were faithful to him, that she knew. Whether they would extend that to either Loki or her would remain to be seen, but she felt she could trust them for now.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the guards. "See that no one interrupts us."

Katirya watched as they slowly filed out and nodded at the Thirteen to follow as well. Once all were out, she looked around the table once more. "As I said, what I am going to tell you… and ask of you, must go no further than this room."

Each individual person considered her statement before nodding silently. Loki remained motionless for several minutes, waiting, but she refused to open her mind. The silence grew in the room until he finally relented and nodded.

"Thank you." She lowered her gaze once more to the table, staring at the ring of water her glass had made upon the finely polished wood. Wiping at it absently, she lifted the glass for another sip of water before finally continuing.

"The Infinity Gems. Someone is after them." Her quiet announcement was met with almost pandemonium from those seated at the table with the exception of Loki. He simply sat quietly staring at her.

Various versions of "How do you know?" and "Who is it?" were echoed from one person to the next, with the final comment of "Why do they want them?" being said.

Once the noise had quieted down, she spoke once more. "I do not know who. I know because they have tried to take the Cronuth stone." Loki's gaze swept up to the circlet at her brow once more. She reached up to lightly touch the stone. "Yes, this is the Cronuth stone and it is one of the Infinity Gems, the Soul stone. This is what binds the Thirteen to me."

"There also seems to be a strong connection to you two, Thor and Loki, with at least three of the other stones," she continued.

"Three?" Thor stared at her. "How do you know this?"

"Someone is manipulating you in an attempt to find them, or as many of them as they can. I find it interesting that first the Tesseract appeared and," she hesitated, "it seems your Jane Foster is connected to all of the Infinity Gems in some manner. I just have not figured out how. Odin knew where they all were at one time, and it was to seek out his council that I came here."

"Jane? How could she be connected to all of them? She was unfortunate to be the one who found the Aether, but that was an accident. And it was Loki who had the Tesseract," Thor was very quick to try to vindicate Jane.

Katirya smiled softly at his immediate defense of the mortal, even though he turned his brother over quickly to try to place the blame for one upon him. She made a careful note of that, as it might become an issue at some point.

"Do you not find it 'odd' that Jane was the one to discover the Aether? Of all the billions of humans on that planet, to pick out the one who had any connection to Asgard? And Selvig, Jane's friend, was the one who was building the device to use the Tesseract to open that portal. And Loki, your scepter you used then? What became of it on Earth? Who gave that to you?" Katirya started to attack them with her questions, not sure if this was the best way or not, but she continued to demonstrate the many connections. "It simply seems to be too much of a coincidence to be anything but planned."

"My scepter?" Loki looked to Thor. "What did become of it?" He shifted his gaze back to Katirya. "And why is it suddenly important?"

"The Mind stone," Katirya responded. "You had it, did you not know? At least, I believe it to be the Mind stone and I could be wrong, but it is lost once again unless Thor brought it back to Asgard?"

"No, I did not. Agent Romanoff used the scepter to destroy the device to stop the Chitauri."

"Aye, but what became of it?" And she focused once more on Loki. "And more importantly, who gave it to you?"

"The Chitauri gave it to me. I was to give them the Tesseract in exchange. I do not know what became of it, I was rather…incapacitated at the time."

Katirya opened her mind up then. She focused on the thoughts of the Warriors and Sif, finally picking up one common thought.

"I do not trust the Collector," Katirya stated suddenly as she closed her mind once again.

"The Collector?" Thor was visibly stunned to see she knew where the Aether had been sent. "How did you know?"

"She is using you, you fools!" Loki slammed the table "Watch what you think, for she can indeed read minds as well as claim your souls if that is the Soul stone." He rose and walked around the table to stand behind her. "So why do you want to find the gems?" His soft voice almost whispered in her ear as he leaned over the chair to speak.

Katirya held her place, not bowing down to the anger or arrogance of Loki. He might be the King of Asgard, but he was not her king. She betrayed no sign of the sudden fear she felt. The door behind them rattled, but did not open. She calmed her mind before turning to look up at him. He towered over her, but she did not flinch, instead meeting his gaze directly. "Who would not want to possess them?" She noted the glint in his eyes when she said that. "But rather, I fear what might happen to our worlds if they were to fall into the wrong hands. Either way, I seek help if you will. If not, I shall continue my journey without it."

"You lied to me!" Loki's fist pounded down upon the table causing several to jump. "How do I know that you are not lying yet again?"

"Loki!" Thor rose up from his seat and moved towards his brother.

"Stop it!" Katirya managed to slide from underneath Loki's presence to stand up. Backing away from the table, she watched as Loki turned to face her. "Yes, I did lie to you. I lied to everyone, except my mother. And for that she is dead. Had I not lied, I would be dead." She suddenly closed her eyes and seemed to wilt. Her voice lowered to almost a whisper as she bowed her head. "And I rather wish it had been me. It was not her fault. She only wanted to save me."

The room became suddenly silent. Katirya took several deep breaths before rising up her head, her eyes bright with a fire unlike any had ever seen. "I will not allow her death to be in vain."

Turning, she raced to the doors and flung them open wide. The guards who were shielding the door from her companions fell back as she swept by them. 


	7. Chapter 7: Revelations

Chapter 7: Revelations

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Loki was furious; all he could think about was the fact that all these years she had lied to him. He watched her race out of the room and did nothing. His father had lied to him; his mother had lied to him. It seemed as if everyone had lied to him.

Thor moved over towards his brother, but said nothing at first, sensing his brother's rage. After the silence had extended for some time, he sighed and finally spoke. "Do you think she is right? That Jane was chosen to find the Aether because of me?"

Loki turned to look at him, reining in his anger. "Anything is possible, but she is right. It almost seems to be too much of a coincidence. But who would be behind all this and how would they know?"

Thor shook his head. "It was widely known that father exiled me to Earth. Anyone could have discovered that. The Chitauri, how did they find you?"

Loki shook his head. "I do not know, brother. I fell and thought for certain I was going to die. I wished to die. I felt cheated by life. I had been lied to, never told my true birthright," He looked at Thor. "I hated you. You had everything. Seeing you sent down to Earth made it seem possible that I might finally get my chance to prove to father that I was the right choice for the throne."

"You are the right choice. You understand better than I the terrible choices that must be made. I am a simple warrior. I may have been Odin's true son, but you were his true heir."

Loki felt the anger begin to return. "I was only a pawn to Odin. He brought me here to use me; he had no love for me. He would never have permitted a Frost Giant to rule Asgard. As far as he was concerned, as soon as Laufey was dead, I was of no use to him. He probably did not mourn when I fell into the wormhole."

"But Freya loved you," Thor countered. "And he did mourn for you, in his own way."

Loki laughed. "In his own way? Truly, brother? I saw how he looked at me when you brought me back in chains. His eyes told the truth. He was sorry to see my return. He would rather I had died. I was of no use to him anymore," he spat out the last words.

"You were the only one responsible for your actions. He did not force you to act as you did on Earth!" Thor's voice had risen now. In the background, the others shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Ah, yes," Loki's voice became cold. "Earth, where your little mortal lives. You would rather be there, wouldn't you?" Loki began to taunt his brother now, allowing the rage to take over. "What would have happened to her had I indeed been successful?" Loki lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Imagine what I could have done with the Tesseract and the Mind stone." He considered the power he would have wielded with the two stones. How had he not known he held the Mind stone in his scepter? The power he had felt when he commanded the humans to kneel to him…

"LOKI!" Thor's strong voice stopped Loki's thoughts. "Stop this madness. You know the two stones together only created chaos. You are far better here, ruling in my stead."

"Madness? Is it? And ruling in your stead?" Loki's eyes narrowed as he stared at his brother, a thought crossing his mind. "Do I truly rule?"

"Yes, why would you say otherwise?" Thor's voice was calmer now, but he stepped back at the look in Loki's eyes.

"Really?" Loki sneered. "Then you need to tell them," His arm swept towards where the others sat. "They listen only to you, they do everything they can to undermine my authority. They trust me not at all and others follow their lead. Sif and the warriors do not listen to me; they are your puppy dogs, following you around and obeying you with no regard to me. They give me no loyalty, and … do you trust me?"

"Trust?" Thor was startled by the question. "I thought…"

"Thought what? That everything would be perfect once you turned the throne over to me?"

"No, not that. It is just…" Thor paused, searching for words. "Loki, we need to put the past behind us. I made a choice; I felt you were the right person to rule Asgard. I am a simple warrior; I have learned that time and again. You understand far better than I the struggles of the choices of rule. I do not know if you are the best choice, but you are a better choice than I would be. This has nothing to do with Jane."

Loki stared at his brother for several minutes, considering what Thor had said. "I wish I could believe you." Turning on his heel, Loki swept out of the room. His long legs moved him rapidly into the throne room. He paused for a moment to stare at the throne then continued down the hallway.


	8. Chapter 8: Distrust

Chapter 8: Distrust

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

Thor watched his brother leave, his thoughts confused. Loki was right; his friends constantly looked to him for direction, rarely heeding Loki. He heard their movement as they all jumped up the instant Loki left the room, walking towards him all starting to speak at once.

"I do not know why…"

"He is not right, we do…"

"But why did you…"

"STOP!" Thor silenced them with one word. "Enough, my brother is right. You do not offer him the respect he deserves. Others look up to you, follow your lead, so when you act as if he is not truly the king of Asgard, others give him even less respect. You undermine his authority, and that is not right."

His friends looked at one another before finally Sif spoke up. "But you do not trust him. I do not trust him. I am surprised that he did not kill you when he had the chance, for he has tried many times. Why should we trust him now?"

"I _do _trust him, Sif. He is my brother and…" Thor paused as he considered his next words, knowing he needed to explain why he continued to feel loyalty to his brother despite all his previous transgressions. "My family has not done right by him. Odin did lie to him. I did not know of his parentage, but I always acted like I was the only one fit to rule. Father did say we were both truly kings. Loki…"

"Loki is mad." Volstagg finally spoke. "He is hell bent on ruling everyone and everything. If he got his hands on the six stones…."

"The stones? He wouldn't… but…" Speaking under his breath more so than to his friends, Thor voiced these words and suddenly knew where Loki had been headed. Not bothering to explain what he was doing, he raced out of the room and headed towards the Vault.

"See!" Sif shouted after him. "I told you!"

He heard the words but heeded them not at all. Racing down the hallways, he headed to the vaults where Odin had stored relics. It was also were the Tesseract had been placed.

He entered the vaults. To the right lay the Tesseract, to the left were other relics. He did not hesitate; turning left he headed for one specific room.

_**~§~ Lady Sif ~§~**_

The four friends looked at each other as Thor raced out of the room.

Sif did not regret her comment. She was certain Loki was off to grab the Tesseract. She wondered what he would do with it once he had control of it once again. She looked at the men still in the room and shouted, "Come on! We had better follow them. Thor is bound to need help if Loki gets his hands on that Tesseract!" She took off down the hallway after Thor followed closely by the other three.

Thor had the advantage and was far ahead of them. They saw him racing down the hallways towards the vaults, but he quickly outdistanced them. Not deterred, Sif kept running as fast as she could and knew the others were at her heels.

Reaching the vaults, she entered and took the first right heading towards the chamber holding the Tesseract. Entering into the chamber Sif saw the Tesseract. She looked around the chamber only to discover it was empty.

Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral ran into the chamber behind her and quickly surrounded the Tesseract.

Sif finally spoke. "Where are they?" She had been certain this was where Loki and Thor were headed. To not find them in here completely caught her by surprise.

"I do not know." Volstagg voice expressed the disbelief that they had not discovered Thor and Loki in this chamber continuing their argument. "We saw Thor heading this way. There is no other place down here they could have gone to. They must be somewhere in the vaults, but where?" He gestured to the Tesseract. "And it's still here, untouched."

Sif considered what Thor had said to them back in the council chamber. "Do you think Thor is right? That Loki has changed?"

Hogun snorted. "He will never change. He has tried to kill Thor many times. He craves power."

"But he is the king now; I wonder if that is not enough," Sif was trying to be reasonable, thinking over what Thor had said to them. It still went against her beliefs having seen how Loki treated Thor in the past, but she did trust Thor.

"So what if he is king, he is not the rightful king," Volstagg started shouting. "Odin's firstborn and chosen son was Thor. He was all set to pass over the rule when Loki let those frost giants in the first time, getting Thor banished to Earth. Then, he let them in again to kill Odin."

"But he did kill Laufey, before Laufey could kill Odin." Sif countered. "He did save Odin in the end. Perhaps he realized his mistake."

"That was no mistake Sif," Volstagg was adamant. "It made him look good to 'save' Odin. And remember, Laufey was his father. He knew that by then, yet he killed his own father. Why stop there? He tried to kill Thor later on Earth. He has no reason, and thus we have no reason to follow him. Who knows, maybe he even killed Odin!"

Sif gasped; shocked that Volstagg would even say something like that. "How can you say that?"

"Why not? Think about it,Sif; he kills off Odin before Thor returns. Thor is confused over that mortal, Jane Foster. Loki needs only to talk to him a bit; you know that silver tongue of Loki's. He probably convinced Thor that he doesn't want to rule and thinks Loki will be a better ruler. Really? Look at the mess he caused with the Chitauri. That is no ruler."

"But how did Loki survive? Has anyone thought of that? First he fell into that wormhole only to show up on Earth." Fandral finally chimed into the conversation. "Then Thor asked for his help against Malekith and Thor returned to say he had died on Svartalfheim. That's the second time he's disappeared to only reappear again. Thor is too trusting of his brother. I think Volstagg is right, there is something amiss here."

Sif considered everything her friends had said and reached a final decision. "We need to watch Loki, every step he takes. Thor is blinded by his love for his brother. So now the question is, where are they?"


	9. Chapter 9: Coming to Terms

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Loki was standing before the relic of Jotunheim, his back to the doorway. He heard footsteps entering the vaults and within moments was aware of his brother moving through the room to stand by his side. Turning his head, he gazed at Thor and let out a small laugh. "I see you chose this room rather than the other. Good choice, brother."

Thor laughed in return. "If you had wanted the Tesseract, you would have taken it long before now. I wondered if Katirya had instead come down to steal it, and figured you had checked on that."

"Indeed, I did. But, if she had wanted it, why would she have let Volstagg find her? Why bother announcing your arrival if you intend to steal something?" Loki tossed out questions that had been going through his mind as he turned to face his brother fully. "If the legends of the Thirteen are only half true, she would not have even needed to bother to advise us that she was here. She would have entered, taken it and left."

"Do you truly believe that?"

"Yes." Loki answered quickly. "I fear she is here for a purpose, though I cannot understand it yet. She clearly is capable of lying and I believe she lied to us in that chamber. She was trying to find out something, but I am not sure what. I thought…" He paused, and finally admitted. "I thought perhaps I could control the Tesseract and outwit her with it. I came here at first with every intention of getting it, but when I looked at it, I knew it would not accomplish what I needed. So I came here instead."

"And you are angry that she has lied to you."

Thor stated the obvious, but when he heard it said aloud, Loki felt his anger returning. Gesturing towards the relic, Loki almost snarled. "Yes, I am angry. And why should I not be angry? It seems my entire life has been a lie. I wonder," He turned to gaze down at the relic, his voice rising. "what would happen if I returned to Joutenheim to claim my birthright? Would they accept me? I am their true king, or am I? Was that a lie too? Was Laufey truly my father?" He suddenly turned away and walked to the wall, pounding it with his fist. "Why? Why do I not look like the Frost Giants? Why do I appear as I do? Yet clearly I have their powers!" He turned to face Thor and held out his hands, which had turned blue, reflecting his heritage.

Thor took a deep breath, sensing he had found the root of the trouble with Loki's outburst during the council. "You are confused. You have every right to be so, brother."

"But I am NOT your brother!" Loki shouted.

"Maybe not my blood brother, but you are still my brother." Thor replied quietly. "Mother loved you Loki, like you were her son."

As soon as Thor said her name, Loki felt the emotions he had suppressed when he had learned of her death return. The feelings of anguish and even fear welled up inside him as intensely as the day he had been told of Freya's death. He bowed his head, clenching his fists as he turned away from Thor. "And she is dead; are you saying no one loved me other than her?"

"Loki!" Thor's voice shouted across the room. "Do not go there! We cannot live in the past. Freya loved you as her son. I love you as my brother."

Loki felt his rage increasing as his thoughts began to focus on the loss of Freya. "She was not truly my mother! I do not even know who my mother was!" Whirling around, he faced Thor. "Why do I not look like them? Why do I have their powers but also the magic like Freya?"

"Those who would know the truth are dead to us now. We must accept we will never know." Thor tried to reason with Loki.

Loki pointed to the relic from Jotunheim. "What if I went back, and claimed my birthright? I should be their King!" His eyes were bright as he felt a sense of purpose with this statement. He could, and should be King of Jotunheim and Asgard.

"Loki, they would not accept you, whether you are the rightful king or not." Thor replied, still remaining calm despite Loki's anger. "Between the two of us, we have managed to ensure that there is no one in Jotunheim who trusts us.

Loki felt his mind return as the anger began to leave. He laughed at Thor's comment, recalling their failed attempt at suppressing the Jotunn. Sighing deeply, he released more of his pent up anger. "That is true brother, but that does not answer my many questions." He moved to a bench and sat down.

Thor appeared to consider them for several moments before finally replying. "Perhaps your mother was of Asgard? That would explain why you do not resemble the Frost Giants, just as Odin did not."

"Odin?" Loki was suddenly confused. "Why would Odin have looked like a Frost Giant?"

"You do not know?" Thor looked at Loki incredulously. "Odin's mother, my grandmother, was a Frost Giantess."

Loki's eyes widened as he stared at Thor. Was this true? "A Frost Giant? Odin's mother was a Frost Giant? And he would not accept me, the son of a Frost Giant as a true heir to the throne?"

"Loki, truly you did not know?"

"No, yet one more thing Odin never told me." His anger at his adopted father returned. "My whole life has been made up of lies and half-truths."

"Loki, do not let the past stand between us. You are my brother. If Odin failed to tell you the truth, I cannot answer for him and he is gone now and cannot answer for himself. We must let the past go. You are now King of Asgard."

Loki bowed his head and sighed deeply. Rising from the bench, he moved to stand by Thor. "Are you still happy that you gave up the throne?"

Thor laughed. "Yes, and stop asking me. You are the right person for the position. I am a simple warrior."

"I do not know that I would call you simple." Loki laughed at Thor. His thoughts then returned to what had brought him down here. "What are we to do with Kiri? I feel she has something she is hiding."

"You know her better than I. Do you feel that she is correct, that there is some connection between the Infinity Gems and us?" Thor asked his brother.

"Well, let us consider that. First we have the Tesseract. What do we know of the Tesseract? How did the humans find it? Odin left it hidden on earth after he defeated the Jotunn and brought this here." Loki motioned towards the relic that contained the power of Jotunheim.

Thor sighed. "And the Chitauri found out that the humans had discovered it. That is when you showed up again. Who sent you? The Chitauri? And what knowledge did they give you?"

"No, the Other. That is how the Chitauri referred to him. He gave me the scepter and commanded the Chitauri army to obey me." Loki avoided discussing the knowledge he had gained from the Other. "That scepter! It seems that was also another Infinity Gem, if Kiri is to be believed. It does make sense as I was able to control the minds of those humans, except your friend Tony Stark."

Thor laughed at that. "I guess you did not know about his condition."

"No, but that connects two of the Gems to us. Then we have the Aether. Was it a simple coincidence that your Jane was the one to fall through the portal and find it? That is yet another connection to us."

"And now we have your friend Kiri, with the Cronuth Stone, the Soul Stone." Thor looked at his brother. "There are too many coincidences as she suggested. I think we need to talk to her. She claims she is worried if the Stones were to fall into the wrong hands. Do you think we could believe her?"

Loki shrugged. "I do not know. She was lying about something, or hiding something. I could sense that. She kept her mind closed during most of the council. She only opened it to discover that we had placed the Aether with the Collector. She might be working with the Other, or working for herself…"

"Or be simply telling the truth." Thor finished the sentence with the option that Loki felt he could not believe.

"I wish I could believe that. I thought I knew her, only to discover her powers are far greater than even her mother's."

"Loki, think back to the girl you knew. Knowing she had to hide those powers or she would be killed… do you not think she felt the burden of lying to others? You heard her in the council. She wished she had been the one murdered and not her mother."

"Thor, you can be too trusting at times, but perhaps you are correct. There is only one way to find out, and that is to go talk to her, if she will talk to us. I suppose I need to apologize to her." Loki was reluctant to admit that.

Thor laughed at that. "The King of Asgard admits he needs to apologize? Brother, I think we are both learning how to rule. Let us go beard the lion… or rather lioness, in her den." Slapping his brother on the back, he headed towards the door.

Loki began to follow Thor out when he paused. "Uh, Thor?"

Thor turned around to look at him.

"You might want to go get your friends."

"My friends?" Thor looked at him with a puzzled look. Then he recalled the sounds of them following him when he had left the council room. "Where are they? I thought they were following me."

"Try the chamber with the Tesseract. They still do not trust me." Loki stared down the other corridor towards the chamber.

Thor sighed. "Let us go find them together. Maybe they will discover the error of their ways?"

"One can only hope." Loki walked alongside his brother as they headed to the chamber with the Tesseract. They reached the chamber to hear Sif speaking.

"We need to watch Loki, every step he takes. Thor is blinded by his love for his brother. So now the question is, where are they?"

Loki looked at his brother, shaking his head. Walking quietly into the chamber he spoke. "We are right here."

Sif jumped when she heard Loki's voice and whirled around to face him. "I… I…"

"Do not bother to explain yourself Lady Sif. I know you trust me not, as is obvious in that you came here thinking I had come to take the Tesseract."

"My king…" Sif struggled to speak, her eyes looking at Thor, imploring him to come to her aid.

"Sif, enough!" Thor stepped forward. "


	10. Chapter 10: A Tentative Peace

A Tentative Peace

_**Thor ∫~**_

As they approached Katirya's rooms, Thor noticed three of the city's guards standing outside arguing with one of Katirya's Thirteen. He looked sideways at Loki who simply shrugged.

One of the guards caught sight of them and ran to greet them. "There was a disturbance within the chambers, but they will not permit us to go inside."

"A disturbance? Please, explain." Thor spoke as they continued towards the door.

"Well, it sounded like fighting, my lords. We came up to investigate and they simply told us to go away."

Loki looked at his brother and sighed, noticing that two more of the Thirteen had arrived at the doorway. One moved forward, approaching them. "Well, perhaps they will permit us to enter."

"She trusted you," the man hissed, "both of you." His black eyes stared first at Thor, then moved to focus on Loki.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Well, I cannot say I have been the best host, but that is the primary reason we have come up here. I need to speak with your Queen." 

Thor found the man's choice of words interesting; that Katirya had trusted them might mean she was simply here seeking aid and not up to something as Loki had suggested. He refrained from saying anything at this point, preferring to see if they would gain admission to the rooms. "If we may?"

The Cartherion considered the request, finally stepping to the side and motioning for the two at the doorway to allow them to enter. "I wish you luck in dealing with her. She is not in the best of moods."

"Thank you." Loki spoke quietly and entered the room.

Thor paused before following Loki into the room. "Stay out here, unless you hear any further disturbances and feel the need to intervene." He noted they moved to join the other Asgardians, weapons within easy reach.

As he entered the first room, he noticed Loki looking around. Following his gaze, he started to laugh heartily. "Well, brother. It seems she has your taste in decorating!"

The room was in shambles. Tables and chairs were overturned; items that had lain upon them were broken and strewn around the room. The room looked like a battle had been waged in there. Several of the servants who had been called summoned to wait upon Katirya were moving about quietly cleaning up the mess.

Loki shook his head and laughed. "It would seem she is more adept at it than I, from the looks of it."

"She did have more to work with." Thor pointed this out, knowing that Loki had been confined to a cell whereas Katirya had several rooms to vent her rage upon. "Now to find her. I suppose one would just follow the trail."

"I would not precisely call this a trail. It is more like chaos." Loki stepped over a broken chair and moved through the room. "It would seem to go this way, I believe."

They headed through to another room continuing to find more destruction, finally reaching a doorway that led out into the gardens. "Well, brother, I would say she was a tad bit unhappy at the way the council went. I think I would agree with her guard's opinion in terms of her mood at the moment." Thor gazed about the gardens and finally caught sight of a small figure seated on the grass at the edge. Her back was to them, but she was sitting cross-legged, with her head raised up to the sky giving the appearance of meditation; although considering the destruction in the rooms, he was not so sure. He gestured to Loki. "All yours, brother."

"Thank you, I think." Loki moved across the gardens and approached her. Reaching her side, he sat down beside her.

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya was seated, eyes closed, calming herself. She knew her anger had left a mess behind her, but she would deal with it shortly. For now, she needed to reconsider her plans. The council had not gone well. Loki had surprised her with his response; she had not anticipated that reaction.

She sensed the arrival of the brothers before heard their voices. She said nothing as Loki sat down beside her for several minutes. Finally she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. "I am sorry, my friend."

"Well, you did make rather a mess of your rooms." Loki pointed out.

She laughed aloud at that remark, not what she had expected. "I am sorry about that. My temper did get the best of me. I had not anticipated…"

"No, I am the one who should be apologizing here." Loki interrupted her.

She laughed softly in return. "I had not expected your response. Let's just say we both have reasons to be angry. Yes, I did lie to you and I had not realized precisely how that might affect you, but I ought to have. I have lied to so many people and I can see the results." She gestured back towards the building. "The Thirteen hate me. They would rather kill me than obey me because I lied to them. Fortunately, they must obey me. Their families would do anything to kill me. My entire life has been a lie."

"As has mine, as I continue to discover." Loki's expression was thoughtful.

"I know," She replied quietly.

He looked at her slightly puzzled, then realized she had been 'listening' to everything going on around her.

"My mother taught you some of the skills of a seer. I wonder…" She allowed her voice to trail off as she thought about the possibilities of who his mother might have been. Had she been Cartherion? His abilities indicated that it was a strong possibility.

"I wish I knew." He replied, having heard her thoughts.

"Not that it truly matters. What matters is what we make of ourselves, not who our parents are. That, my friend, is more important." Placing a hand upon his knee, she laughed lightly. "A truce? I promise no more lies."

He nodded in agreement. "Yes, I can agree to that, since I am not the one who has lied." He smiled at her.

She half turned where and waved at Thor. "Come on over. We still have much to discuss."


	11. Chapter 11: Intruders!

Chapter 11: Intruder!

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Thor moved across the garden and stood there, towering over his brother and Katirya. She patted the grassy spot next to her. "Join us. It is rather relaxing sitting here and I believe we have settled our differences."

Thor sat down and looked at the two. "Excellent."

"I am sorry for my reaction, but…"

Thor cut her off. "Queen Katirya, you do not need to apologize."

"Kiri, please, call me Kiri."

Thor nodded then went on. "Loki and I had a few questions for you. You said you came here seeking aid. Why? And how did you come to the conclusion that we are connected to the Infinity Gems?"

She gazed out at the city while she considered his questions for a few moments. "Yes, I seek aid. The Thirteen, as I just told Loki, would rather kill me than obey me. Their families feel the same. I fear the same fate as Storvirken, even if I am not the evil leader that he was. They fear that the power will overcome me and I will be just like him. I understand their feelings, but at the same time, I am not Storvirken. As to the Gems," she lightly touched the Cronuth Stone before continuing, "if the others are found, whoever is after them will come after this as well. I can easily see the Thirteen turning on me then. I do not know if I can withstand an attack of that level."

"Do you know who is after them?" Loki spoke up finally.

"I do not know for certain, but they clearly have found a way to involve both of you. The scepter needs to be retrieved. Do you think it is still on Earth?" Katirya asked.

"I think so. We did not bring it back, only the Tesseract," Thor replied. "I did not think of the scepter."

"The Other gave it to me and taught me many things I would rather not repeat. I was to keep it and give them the Tesseract in return, but I wonder if they never expected me to win on Earth." Loki speculated.

"Loki, the Other as you call him was manipulating you. That much is obvious, at least to me. I do not believe they intended anything but to discover the power of the humans, and you were convenient to them." Katirya offered her explanation. "I think they underestimated the humans, given that the Chitauri were pretty much destroyed. Of course, that was a fortunate turn of events. The humans are a destructive race. The weapon that destroyed the Chitauri was meant for the city your Avengers were trying to protect. That they would attempt that…" she paused, "They have much yet to learn."

"They are not all bad." Thor was quick to defend his mortal friends.

Katirya and Loki both laughed at his quick defense of the mortals.

"As I said earlier, I do not trust this Collector, but at least we know where the Aether is. If it is the only one he has, we are fortunate. You were right to keep them separate though. It would be too tempting for this Other, or whoever he is working for." Katirya returned the conversation to the topic of the Gems. "Do either of you have any clue where the others might be? That still leaves the Time and Reality Gems missing, but I think first we need to retrieve that scepter."

"Then it sounds like we need to visit to Earth, and as soon as possible if you think someone is searching for them." Thor rose and offered his hand down to Katirya.

Accepting the hand, she rose gracefully, noting that Loki remained seated, staring off into the distance, a concerned look upon his face. "What? What is wrong?"

"There is something…" Loki's voice trailed off. An alarm suddenly sounded off and he leapt to his feet. "The Vaults! Someone is in the Vaults!" He sprinted across the gardens and raced through the rooms into the hallway. The guards had disappeared, as had Katirya's companions. He noted this, but did not bother to try to figure out where they had gone, instead racing down to the vaults.

Upon hearing the alarm, Thor summoned Mjölnir and flew after Loki. Katirya followed in their wake.

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

The brothers reached the vaults at the same time and ran inside, heading straight to the chamber with the Tesseract. Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun were standing at the doorway along with several of the city guards and the Thirteen.

"They've got the Lady Sif and a child in there," Hogun whispered to them as they arrived.

The brothers entered to find a heavily-armed group already present along with one of the Thirteen. Sif was holding a child, protecting it against the enemy force.

The Catherion stepped forward and began to shout out demands. "I have your wife and child! You will give me the Tesseract or I will kill them!"

"Wife? Child?" Loki glanced over at Thor. "You never told me you two got married and had a child." 

"Loki!" Thor snapped back in return.

Katirya finally arrived and stepped into the chamber. "Tyr! What is the meaning of this?"

"My lady, I am simply doing your bidding."

"I asked nothing of you! What rebellion is this?" Katirya started to move towards him.

As she got closer, the group surrounding Sif and the child closed in on the captives. Sif shouted out. "I am not his wife and this is not his child!"

"That is what you say," Tyr replied. "You are just trying to protect yourselves. I see through your ruse. The Queen told me the truth."

Loki looked at Katirya suspiciously. Was she lying again? He then noticed her eyes darting about the room, as if gauging how Tyr's words were being received. "Kiri?"

"I did not tell him anything of the sort…"

"You did! You pointed out the wife and child!" Tyr's scream cut her sentence off and he began to advance towards her.

"I did no such thing. You are lying, Tyr." Katirya started to back away towards the doorway, only to be stopped as the Warriors Three blocked the door.

"Loki! You have to believe me. I had nothing to do with this."

Loki stared at her. "Truly? Are you sure you are not the one who wants the Gems?"

"If I had wanted the Tesseract, I would have taken it! Can't you see they are trying to discredit me? They want me dead! " Her eyes started to flash and she lifted her arm and pointed it at Tyr. "Let them go, you fool!"

"I am only following your orders!" Tyr spat back at her. "Are you trying to make them think you had no part in this? You were the one who told me which ones to capture."

Loki was suddenly uncertain, was she telling the truth?

"_Of course I am telling the truth! I told you the Thirteen wish me dead."_

"_I thought they obeyed you? Are you sure he is not following your orders?"_

"NO!" A sharp flash of light followed her shout as she brought her arm back to her body, clenched her hand into a fist and released the light at Tyr.

Tyr collapsed, falling dead to the floor. A shriek rent the room as a cloud escaped from where he lay, then the body disappeared leaving only empty clothes.

The room was suddenly silent except for the sound of weeping from the child.

Everyone turned to stare at Katirya.


	12. Chapter 12: Shadows

Chapter 12: Shadows

_**~§~ Lady Sif ~§~**_

Sif stared in disbelief at the pile of clothing. What had happened to Tyr? She had not known him of course, but it startled her to see him killed so abruptly, or had he been killed? Had he been real? She moved her gaze to look at Katirya. Had the woman killed him to silence him or was she telling the truth?

Confusion ruled within the chamber. The fact that there were intruders was the first problem. This was compounded by the addition of the fact that they were Cartherions, led by one of the Thirteen. Sif tried to make sense of it.

The silence was ended with a roar from Thor as he ran across the room to grab Katirya. "GUARDS!" The city guards along with the Warriors Three entered the room just as Thor closed in on Katirya. He reached out to grab her only to run through her.

Loki laughed. "When are you going to stop falling for that trick?"

Thor whirled to face Loki. "Seriously? Where is she then? Can you find her?"

Loki shrugged and began to look around the room. Sif noticed that he paused longer, looking intently into one corner more than other areas of the room. She followed his gaze, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"She's gone and so is the Tesseract! Guard the doors and sound the alarm!" Volstagg shouted causing everyone to start shouting as they looked around the room for Katirya. "She cannot have gotten past us!"

The guards had closed in on the Cartherion intruders, trying to force them towards a corner of the room. The Cartherions were not so willing to accept defeat and started to push back at their captors. They raised swords and began to shout at the guards as they engaged them in battle. Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral left the doorway and joined in the melee. Eight of the Thirteen had split off, moving to reinforce the Cartherions when Thor raised his hammer and crashed it to the floor with another roar. Stunned, all the combatants stopped. Thor turned to face the four remaining of the Thirteen who had not moved to join the scuffle. "Where is your Queen?" 

Mythean shook his head. "I do not know, but she is still near."

"She cannot have escaped; we were in the doorway until the argument started. Then we all came in, but the doorway was still blocked." Sif finally spoke up. She knew there had not been any opportunity for someone to get through the group that had crowded through the doors. The child she had been protecting suddenly wrenched his body out of her grasp and raced towards the door, only to fall when one of the guards tripped him and scooped him up to hold him tightly. Screaming and kicking, the boy tried to escape.

"Well, she clearly is not in here and the Tesseract is gone! She lied and came here only to steal it. She probably set this whole charade up and left these people here to face our wrath!" Volstagg shouted.

The Cartherions roared their approval of Volstagg's comment. "She lied to you! Tyr was trying to tell you that, and then she killed him. She has taken off with the Tesseract. You will …"

"I am right here," a soft voice came from one of the corners, revealing Katirya standing close to the wall directly behind Loki, "but I do not have the Tesseract, though it still is in this room."

Sif realized at once it was the spot that Loki had been staring at. Had he seen her? Could he see her?

Katirya moved towards the Cartherion group, shaking her head sadly. "So many familiar faces. I am disappointed in you and your families." She sighed heavily, then turned and walked to the child that Sif had been protecting. Approaching the young boy, she reached out and lifted his chin so that he was forced to look up at her. He jerked his head away and spat at her feet. She ignored his action and turned towards Loki.

"Boy! Who are you?" Loki's voice was soft as he questioned the young child. "I do not recognize you. Do you?" He directed his question to Thor.

"Oh, none of you will. He is not of Asgard. They brought him along with. To think that you chose to involve an innocent child in your schemes. What lies have you told him to get him to hate me so?" Katirya asked the group of intruders. Then she looked at the eight who had joined them from her party. "You are making this more difficult than it needs to be."

Sif was surprised that Loki was allowing her to simply take over. She glanced once more at the pile of clothing that once had been Tyr. "You say the Tesseract is still here; where is it? Where have you put it?" She looked at Katirya accusingly, unsatisfied with the way things were going.

"I have not put it anywhere. They stole it." Katirya motioned towards the captives.

"We did not steal it. It was your intention all along to make it look like we took it so you could control it."

"Njall Volundson," Katirya moved towards one of the Thirteen who had joined the intruders, "if I had wanted the Tesseract, I would have simply taken it and not bothered to even speak with the Asgardians. You are a fool!"

"Then where is it?" Njall sneered back at her. "Where is your precious Gem?"

Katirya did not answer him but walked back over to the child. The boy began once more to struggle, trying to escape his captor. Katirya reached into the boy's tunic and pulled out the missing Tesseract. "Like father, like son?" She stared back at Njall once more as she walked over to Sif and handed her the Tesseract.

Sif gasped and stared down at the object. How had the boy managed to get the Tesseract? She had been holding him, protecting him, the entire time she had been in the room. She recalled being grabbed from behind, a knife held to her throat as she had been pulled into the chamber. Thrown across the room, she had stumbled over the boy. The Tesseract had been sitting on its pedestal the whole time, or had it? Why had Katirya given it to her?

"You planted it there! You are trying to make them think you had nothing to do with this." Njall started to shout once more.

Katirya closed her eyes and sighed once more. "Truly you are a fool." Taking a deep breath, she lifted her arms towards the eight who had aligned with the Cartherion traitors.

The eight realized too late what she was doing and started screaming. "Stop her!" The plea came too late as Katirya shot flashes of light towards the eight and like Tyr, they collapsed to the floor, leaving piles of empty clothing where once they had stood. This time, Katirya did not stop with that. Lifting one arm over her head, she drew it across in an arc and opened up one had to reveal a glowing ball of light. She opened her eyes and stared at it for several moments before covering it with her other hand after which she pressed down and the light suddenly split into nine flashes. The piles of empty clothes suddenly rose up.

Sif stared at the one that had been Tyr. Now, where once had been flesh and bone, there was an ethereal figure. She stepped back and turned to look at the other eight. Nine wraiths now stood in the room and moved to stand behind Mythean. "What have you done to them?" Sif spoke softly, voicing the question that had been in everyone's mind.

"What I ought to have done in the first place," Katirya replied. "I should never had trusted the families to align themselves with me, even with one of their own as part of the Thirteen. These," she pointed to the ghostlike members of the Thirteen, "they are the disembodied souls of all the former members of the Thirteen. They would have no form were I not to give it to them. They exist and always will exist, but can only be called by the Cronuth Stone. They can be bound to a living form, and thus bound to that soul, but when released they are unseen, yet they are still there."

Sif frowned, finding the explanation very confusing. "So the souls remain, each one adding to the collective?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. It is a collection of all the previous souls who have served the Cronuth Stone. With a leader, a person who can control the Cronuth, a living form is chosen to be the receptacle for the collective souls and their soul joins the collective."

Sif did not like this strange turn of events. She felt as if Katirya was hiding something, as the explanation seemed too glib.

Katirya turned to face Loki and Thor. "Were I in Cartherion, I would pronounce a harsh judgment for the treasonous acts these miscreants had done. I leave it up to you, as this is your home and not mine. You can see now perhaps why I seek aid. That eight of the families have turned against me is a sign that all is not well within my lands. I fear to return there, for they truly do seek my death."

"Kill her!" One of the captives shouted out. "She is still lying to you. Look what she did to our people. She twisted their lives to her use, and then destroyed them when they tried to challenge her. She wants power and will only use you to get what she wants!"

Loki looked at Katirya for a long time without speaking.

Katirya stepped towards him, raising her eyes up to meet his before finally breaking the silence. "You have two options. You can believe them or me. One of us is lying."

Sif held her breath as she waited for Loki's response. Suddenly she was afraid. She did not trust Loki. What if he sided with Katirya and the Cartherions were right? What if all she was after was the power? Her mind froze and she heard words in her mind.

'_Silence your thoughts, woman!' _

Sif felt the Tesseract begin to resonate in her hands. Fighting for control of her mind, she jerked her gaze down to the Tesseract only to see another set of hands reaching out for it. Looking up, she saw Katirya had crossed the room and was standing in front of her. She heard the command in her mind.

'_Give me the Tesseract."_

"_NO!"_

Sif felt the enormous power emanating from Katirya as the Cartherion Queen reached out to grasp the Tesseract from her hands. Though fighting to keep it, she felt it inexorably pulled from her hands. Collapsing on the floor, she began to sob as she wrapped her arms around her body.

"SIF!" Thor shouted and ran across the room to her. Bending down, he slowly turned her over. "What is wrong?"

"She has it!" Sif wailed. "She is going to kill us all!"

"Has what?"

"The Tesseract."

Thor stared down at the Lady Sif. "Sif, you are holding it in your hands."

Sif sobbed. "No, she has it." She slowly unwrapped her arms from her body. The Tesseract was gone!


	13. Chapter 13: Fire & Ice

Chapter 13: Fire & Ice

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Loki stared down at Katirya, wondering which option he ought to choose. Trust her or trust the large group that insisted she was lying. The commotion across the room caused him to look up and he watched as Sif suddenly began to act in an erratic fashion before finally screaming out that the Tesseract was gone.

Katirya had turned slightly away from him to focus on Thor and Sif. Reaching around her, Loki grabbed her wrists, easily encompassing both with one hand. Katirya twisted to look up at him, startled at his actions.

"Loki!" She cried, struggling to free herself.

Not responding, he simply pulled her closer to him, keeping a tight hold upon her hands. He felt her relax against him, but he did not loosen his hold. He was not about to take any chances after what he had just seen her do. He knew for her to use some of her powers she needed her hands. Bending down, he whispered in her ear. "What is going on now?" He could feel her taking in deep breaths as she attempted to rein in her temper. The combination of her closeness with the rise and fall of her breasts aroused him.

Katirya twisted her head to look up at him, her eyes flashing. She noted the intensity and direction of his look. "I know not what is happening. Let me go!" She struggled once more to escape his grasp.

Laughing softly, he glanced towards Sif and Thor. "Where is the Tesseract?"

"I gave it to Sif. You saw me."

"I know what you wanted us to see, but did you truly give it to Sif? Why is she screaming that you have it?"

"Really?" Katirya leaned back into him, exposing her neck and offering him an even better view. "And where precisely would I hide such an object that you would not know?"

"Minx!" Loki allowed his lips to softly kiss the exposed skin on her neck. He heard the sharp intake of breath she took at his action. Smiling, he released her, knowing she was right. She did not have the Tesseract on her. So where was it?

Thor had finally quieted Sif, helping her to rise. Sif turned to face Loki, catching the last part of the exchange he had with Katirya. "She has the Tesseract!" She pointed to Katirya as she saw Loki release her. "Do not let her escape!"

Katirya moved away slightly from Loki. "It is still here in this room. Someone has it."

"You have it! You ripped it out of my hands!" Sif spoke vehemently.

Thor offered her a hand and looked over at Katirya, then back at Sif. "Sif, she has been over there the entire time."

"That is what she wants you to think." A voice spoke.

Loki turned to find the speaker, discovering it was one of the captives. He considered the comment, as he knew full well that Katirya was probably capable of doing just that, but he also was aware that she did not have the Tesseract on her person. He moved over to the speaker. "So, where is it then? And what have you against her?"

The man shrugged. "She overthrew our ways, took over the council and claimed to be the one supreme leader. We do not recognize that. Ask her yourself if you want to know where she has it."

"So," Katirya rounded on the man, "you refuse our heritage and history? You refuse to obey the Cronuth Stone?"

The man shouted back. "You stole it! You had no right to it! It belongs to the High Council. You had no training. Tyr should have been the one."

Katirya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I had no training? If I had no training, I could not control the stone." Her voice was cold. She moved closer to the man, staring at him. "If I recall correctly, you had your chance at the testing, as did Tyr, and Tyr ended up at the healers as a result of his inability to control the stone."

"You should not even have been permitted to test. You could not even produce a fiyree." He named a simple magic trick that children could easily produce. He sneered at her, displaying a clear dislike of Katirya.

"Is that all you can say? Is that your only proof? The fact…"

He cut her off abruptly. "It is enough!"

She turned away from him, throwing her left arm high in the air. The man suddenly found himself suspended twenty feet above the ground. "Then I guess I cannot do this."

Loki laughed at her actions. During the argument, he reflected on the activity of the past few minutes and finally spoke. "Kiri, I do believe that you did not have anything to do with this."

"Really? You actually believe me?" She looked at him incredulously. "Even after all their attempts to discredit me?" She looked back at the man hanging in the air. He was flailing his arms about, ineffectively trying to escape the magic that held him.

"Oh, you are capable of doing something like this; but not this time. Your friends made two major mistakes first by trying to implicate you in aiding them, then trying to place all the blame on you." Loki pointed out the flaws in the unsuccessful attempt to steal the Tesseract, or had it been a success? "It still does not answer where the Tesseract is."

"Any one of them is capable of hiding it." Katirya pointed out. She then turned back to look at the man in the air and with a flick of her wrist, released him. He plunged towards the floor and crashed hard into two of his companions. "It would seem your plan has failed."

Sif could not remain silent any more. "She took it from me. None of them came near me." She had taken two or three steps towards Katirya when she suddenly tripped and fell to her knees. Confused, she reached back to feel what had tripped her, only to pick up the Tesseract. "How did this get here?"

The captives took advantage of the distraction. Suddenly shouting, and using a combination of weapons they had not relinquished along with their magic, they surprised everyone in the room and managed to kill four of their guards before anyone could move to stop them.

Thor sprang into action, swinging his hammer as he advanced on the group. Loki pulled out his dagger and was about to join his brother when he saw a black shadowy figure appear in the doorway of the chamber. "Thor!" He shouted a warning just as the figure unleashed a ball of fire into the room.

The guards closest to the door burst into flames and ran screaming from the chamber. As the fireball moved across the room, Loki watched it consume each person it came in contact with. He pulled out his frost dagger, and aiming it towards the center of the fireball, sent streams of ice directly into it. The fireball disappeared as quickly as it had emerged. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katirya race forward to scoop up the Tesseract. As she grabbed it, the figure shot another fireball directly at her. She tucked the Tesseract under her arm and rolled to the side. Loki shot another stream of frost towards the new fireball. As it dissipated, he saw Katirya throw the Tesseract to Fandral; then she clasped her hands together and hurled a flash of light at the figure. A scream erupted from the creature and it collapsed on the floor, dead.


	14. Chapter 14: Unleashed

Chapter 14: Unleashed

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya crouched over the creature, trying to see if there were any clues to identify who had sent him. She felt he was working for someone; he had been too easy to defeat. She pushed at the corpse, trying to turn it over, but it was too heavy for her. That surprised her, as the creature was rather small, not much taller than she was.

Thor joined her and easily flipped the body over. Standing, she stared down at it, still puzzled. "I do not understand why he would even try. He was easily outnumbered."

"I would like to know how they are getting into Asgard. First we have your compatriots, now him. How many others can we expect?"

Katirya laughed at that remark. "We do not need the Bifrost to enter. There are many pathways through the universe that we can use."

Thor looked at Loki. "Yes, I am aware of that. Loki?" Loki walked over to them. "How many of these secret paths do you know of?"

Loki considered the question. "Apparently not all of them. Kiri, can you help us to identify them?"

She nodded and motioned for Mythean to join them. "Take the Thirteen and secure Asgard. See that no others enter." She looked at the brothers. "How many guards can you spare? They can show you the pathways we know of."

"I will assign as many as you require. Volstagg," Thor called out to his friend, "I need you, Fandral, Hogun and Lady Sif to work with them. Muster up as many guards as you need."

"And this?" Fandral held up the Tesseract.

"I'll take that." Loki and Thor both spoke in unison. The two brothers stared at one another for a long moment before Thor nodded. "Give it to Loki."

Fandral reluctantly handed it over to Loki, then joined Volstagg as he and the others exited the chamber.

As the room emptied, Katirya was reminded of the Cartherion group; she turned to look at them, focusing on the man who had brazenly challenged her just moments before. He sneered at her and stepped forward away from the others. "You will never rule Cartherion!"

She ignored his comment. "Who is working with you and this mercenary snake?"

"No one!" The man screamed back.

"Ah," Katirya smiled a devilish look flashed across her face, "then I guess _no one _will miss you if you do not return."

The man lifted his chin defiantly. "Go ahead, kill me, witch. You still will never rule. I am just one of many."

"NO!" Thor shouted as Katirya raised her arm. "We need to find out more from him since this one is dead. Do you truly feel they are working together?"

Katirya lowered her arm, sulking slightly. She had been looking forward to dispatching this one. "Do you think otherwise?"

"I do not know what to think. Strange things have been happening since you arrived."

"I only came to seek aid. I brought neither this rabble, nor this creature. They are most likely working together despite what he says. And I would not be surprised if there are more."

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

"Kiri?" Loki spoke and held the Tesseract up, the colors within beginning to change and glow. "I am not doing this and it is starting to…"

Whatever it was starting to do was cut off as an alarm was sounded.

"LOKI! Hang on to it no matter what! Use it if you need to!" Katirya shouted as she whirled towards the door.

Thor raced to the door of the chamber and looked into the halls.

"Stay in here!" Katirya shouted. "We need to protect the Tesseract. Is it safe in here? Can it be removed?"

Thor turned, "I do not know what spells my father put upon it. Loki?"

Loki shook his head. "No."

"I know Heimdall used it to rebuild the Bifrost, so it can leave the vaults."

"So that is how father repaired them." Loki looked down at the Tesseract as they grouped together.

The Cartherions began to shout once more. "S'Thurt! S'Thurt! S'Thurt!"

"What?" Thor looked puzzled then saw the look on Katirya's face.

"Not what, but who. Unless I am mistaken, this is their _no one._" Her eyes had turned to glittering silver and the Cronuth stone burned brightly upon her brow.

"Kiri?" He glanced at Loki to discover his brother's face had changed to the blue of a Frost Giant and his eyes were bright red. The Tesseract was glowing brightly in his hands. "Loki!"

Neither responded. The sounds of battle could be heard in the outer chambers of the Vaults. Not wanting to be left out, he looked down to Mjolnir knowing he was ready for anything.

The Cartherion chant increased in volume, ringing from the walls of the chamber. Loki raised the Tesseract up and they quieted slightly, but then started to advance towards the three pushing the guards away. The guards attempted to stop them, but they were outnumbered suddenly as the group doubled in size. The heavily-armed reinforcements quickly dispatched the few guards.

Thor stared in amazement. "How…"

"NO!" Katirya screamed and with a sweep of her arm, sent blazes of light towards the group destroying them all.

The doors of the chamber were suddenly filled with a group of armed men. Loki raised the Tesseract up and as each enemy warrior entered, they suddenly disappeared. Thor realized Loki was using the Tesseract to displace the enemies and wondered where his brother was sending them to, then decided he really did not care.

Katirya suddenly appeared at his side, grabbing him for support because the Tesseract was creating a vacuum as it sucked each person out. He wrapped an arm around her, keeping Mjolnir free in case he needed to use it. He looked down and noticed her eyes were still blazing.

"S'Thurt is coming!" She shouted above the sounds in the room.

Volstagg staggered into the room, blood dripping from a wound to his face. Loki barely stopped himself from adding him to the collection he'd been removing from this space. "There is an army…" he looked around the empty room. Only Loki, Thor and Katirya remained. Loki had even dispatched the dead Cartherions to some unknown space.

The air in the chamber settled as no more entered. Loki lowered the Tesseract slightly. "Who is S'Thurt?"

"Damn!" Katirya stamped her foot as she moved away from Thor. "I killed the only ones who could tell us that are here… or rather were here," She looked over to where the group had been. "We could go speak to the families, but I think he is still here. He wants the Tesseract and the Cronuth, if I am not mistaken."

"You are not mistaken." A cold voice sounded from outside the chamber. "And I will have them now."

A huge, heavily-armed Skrull entered the room and with one arm, swept Volstagg out of his path. Thor stepped forward to face him with Loki and Katirya flanking him.

"You cannot have them," Thor declared.

The Skrull laughed. "I am S'Thurt and I will have them. I have been commanded to collect them and you will not stop me."

Thor began to swing Mjolnir and noticed Loki and Katirya had stepped up to join him.

S'Thurt's arms suddenly shifted to form weapons. He raised them up and began to fire at the three. Thor used Mjolnir to deflect the first shots. "Loki! Now would be a good time to remove him somewhere."

Loki dodged one blast, only to be hit by a second. Falling backwards, he almost dropped the Tesseract. "Trying." Lifting it up, he aimed it at S'Thurt only to be hit once more.

Katirya had moved behind Thor as he continued to deflect the shots and suddenly he saw a strange glow begin to emanate from S'Thurt. The Skrull continued to shoot, though his aim was now off as he wildly hit the walls and missed the three in the center of the room. Suddenly he collapsed to the floor. Thor release Mjolnir towards the Skrull and it landed solidly on the alien.

Hogun, Fandral and Sif raced into the room. Blood covered their clothing, but they appeared unharmed. They moved to check on Volstagg as Thor turned to check on Loki. His brother lay on the ground, blood seeping from a wound on his thigh. "I'm fine. Look to her." he pointed to Katirya.

Thor saw that Katirya lay upon the floor, unconscious. The Thirteen suddenly entered the room and swept towards her. "Get back!" Mythean commanded as he knelt over the fallen Queen.

The Thirteen circled around her, obscuring her from view. Finally they stepped back. The glow that Thor had seen leaving S'Thurt now floated in the air above them. Katirya was still prone upon the floor, unmoving.

Mythean looked at Loki. "Can you send that somewhere?"

Nodding slightly, Loki raised the Tesseract up and suddenly the glow disappeared.

Thor took stock of the situation. Several guards were dead in the room, guards that the Cartherions had killed. Volstagg, Loki and Katirya were injured. He did not know what had happened to Katirya as she had been behind him, but he thought she was the one who had destroyed S'Thurt.

Mythean saw his look and nodded. "She took his soul, but it was almost too much as he hit her with a spell to stop her. Whoever is after these Stones knows their powers and how to stop them. She needs rest and your healers. She is wounded."

Thor nodded and bent down to lift her up in his arms. "Can you assist my brother?"

Loki rose with help from Mythean, leaning heavily upon him, he limped towards the doorway. Pausing, he held up the Tesseract. "And this?"

"Bring it with you," Thor commanded as they left the room with the wounded and headed towards the healers.


	15. Chapter 15: Loose Ends

Chapter 15: Loose Ends

•**£• **_Loki__** •£•**_

Thor gently placed Katirya on one of the beds in the healing rooms. The healers hovered over her a few moments, conducting a whispered conversation with Mythean, then left her to attend to the others. Several other guards and soldiers of the city had been brought in after the skirmish.

Loki grimaced as the healers worked on his wound. It wasn't too bad, but it still hurt. He saw them attending to Volstagg as well. He looked over at his brother. "Well, that was rather interesting. I wonder if they are the only ones or if we can expect more?"

Thor had thought about this as well. "Hogun, what happened when you left?"

"We followed the Thirteen. The first spot we came to was down in the stables. There is a portal there and we set some workers to close it up, but you might want to check it yourself. We were heading to the second location, down near the gardens, when all hell broke loose. That's when the Skrull and his party attacked us. Volstagg ran ahead to try to warn you, but they obviously caught up to him."

"So you did not find all the entrances?" Loki asked him as he rose from the table, the healer having finished with his wound.

"No, we came straight back to the Vaults."

Loki walked over to Thor. "I think we need to see to these entries. Mythean, can you leave Kiri to show us?"

Mythean shook his head. "I must remain here, but the others can assist."

"Hogun," Thor spoke, "take me down to the one in the stables. Lady Sif, if you and Fandral will go with the Thirteen and continue working."

"What about me?" Volstagg piped up from the table where the healer was just finishing up with him.

"Come with me, then we will join the others until we find all these portals."

The group left the healing rooms. Loki looked over to the healers, then spoke to Mythean. "Why do they not do anything?"

"She simply needs rest. The Skrull had a weapon or a spell that sapped her strength. As she said, whoever is behind this knows the powers of the Stones."

Katirya started to stir, shaking her head and moaning softly. The healers moved quickly to her side and spoke softly to her. She suddenly sat upright. "Loki! We must leave here at once." She swung her legs over the side and started to rise. The instant her feet hit the floor, she started to collapse.

Loki moved to steady her. "I do not think you are going anywhere at the moment."

She clung to him as she tried to stand. "I cannot stay here. There are more coming. There have to be. We must leave and go find that scepter before they do." She looked into his face as she spoke.

He pulled her closer to him. "Kiri, I do not think you are ready to go."

"I will be fine, just give me a few minutes."

"Thor is busy right now securing the entrances. We need to wait at least until he is back. Then we can go. Why don't you eat something while we wait and regain your strength."

Scrunching up her nose at being told no, Katirya sighed, then nodded. "Fine. But as soon as he returns, we must go."

"What exactly happened back there?" He was curious about everything now. "Why did you kill all the Cartherions? And how did they manage to double in size so quickly?" He realized he still did not quite trust her. All the trouble had started when she arrived in Asgard. Had she brought these people with her in an attempt to not only steal the Tesseract, but to find the scepter and claim it as her own?

She turned her head away, not meeting his eyes as he questioned her. "I do not know how they found us, but clearly someone is searching for the Tesseract – all the Stones, actually. I was afraid of that, and it is one reason I left."

"Not the only reason, was it?" Loki's soft voice was filled with accusations.

"No, the people do not trust me. They do not want me to rule, as you saw. They will do anything to stop me."

"And you will stop at nothing either. You killed all of them, why?"

"They were attacking Asgard." She looked up at Loki now, her eyes burning with anger. Pushing away from him. "You still do not believe me, do you? Would you rather I allowed them to infiltrate? How would you have survived the attack?"

He let her escape his hold, watching her stumble slightly before standing. She whirled away from him and stormed out of the room. Two quick steps found him blocking her pathway. "I do not think so, Kiri."

She glared up at him, tears forming in her eyes. "Why? What are you going to do? Stop me?" Pointing at the Tesseract, "or send me someplace?"

"Kiri, I do not know what to believe. All this started when you arrived. What would you think?" He had put his hands on her shoulders, holding her from fleeing any further. He could feel the anger flowing through her body and it ignited a passion within him. Without thinking, he bent down and kissed her. He felt her stiffen at first, then relax and almost melt into him. A noise behind her reminded him of where they were. He broke off the kiss and looked back to see Mythean standing watchfully. Laughing softly, he stepped away from Katirya. "You do try me," He whispered in her ear. "Mythean, the Tesseract." he pointed to the object. "Would you mind fetching it and bringing it along? We need to find my brother so we can take this one off to find that scepter she is so intent upon."

Mythean grinned in response. Picking up the Tesseract, he followed them as they headed towards the stables.

Loki spotted Thor as soon as they arrived in the stables. They were looking at what appeared to be a solid wall, arguing.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Volstagg insists this is a portal, but I can see no way anyone could enter through here." He struck the wall with Mjolnir to prove his point. The hammer rang out.

"Not there," Katirya stepped forward, "but here." She pointed to a section about four feet away. "Try your hammer here."

Thor looked at her skeptically, but swung Mjolnir at the specified point. The hammer went through the boards easily, disappearing from sight along with Thor's hand. He pulled it back and looked at her. "Well, we were close. How do we close these portals?"

Loki motioned for Mythean to bring him the Tesseract. "I think this might be the answer. Am I right?" He looked Katirya, who simply nodded. Accepting the Tesseract back, he stared down at it, not entirely sure how it would work, but he had an instinctive feeling it would. He knew what the Tesseract was capable of, didn't he? Holding it in his hands, he slowly closed his eyes and started to imagine that the portal was closed. In his mind, he could feel the fibers of the boards sealing the opening. Once it was completely closed, he opened his eyes. "Try it now."

Thor looked at him. "Are you crazy?"

"Perhaps."

Thor wound up and took a healthy swing at the spot, expecting Mjolnir to disappear again. When the hammer hit the wall and bounced off, he was practically thrown off his feet. "What?"

"I guess it worked." Loki grinned at him.

"Will the others be this difficult to see and seal?" Volstagg spoke up.

"Possibly." Katirya replied to the question. "Most are hidden, obviously, or you would have found them long before this. The Thirteen can close some of them, but not all. They are up in the gardens now if you want to join them."

"How does she know?" Volstagg asked, staring at the woman.

"Good guess?" Loki quipped; not pointing out the fact that she had the Thirteen in her power and most likely knew their every movement. "Shall we?" He gestured towards the paths that led to the gardens.

_**Author's note:** Again, a huge thank you to all of you who are reading this. I am trying to write and publish at least 2 chapters a week. I must thank my good friend Judy who is editing the work for me, hopefully catching all the errors. If you do happen to see any, please do not hesitate to contact me so I can correct it. _


	16. Chapter 16: Intrigue

Chapter 16: Intrigue

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

Thor sighed as they completed the process of closing yet another portal. "I am surprised we have not been invaded before with so many ways in."

"I am amazed there are so many. I thought I was the only one knew of these other ways in and out of Asgard." Loki laughed, fully aware that he did not know them all. He had discovered a few by sheer accident, and that had indicated there were most likely more. Since he had not needed them, he did not bother to look for any others.

"There are probably many more, but these are the ones I had found before traveling here." Katirya offered the information. "I am certain I could have discovered more had I taken the time. There is much written in the ancient books that tell of the many pathways within the universe."

"Well, it seems like I have a project for the city guards then." Thor replied. "I suggest we prepare for the evening feast. We did plan one in your honor, my lady," he looked towards Katirya, "and I am certain Volstagg for one will not wish to miss it."

Katirya smiled. "A feast will indeed be a nice change." She turned and left, the Thirteen following in her wake as she returned to her rooms.

"Feast?" Volstagg's face brightened. "An excellent proposition. I am fair famished after all this work."

Thor laughed as Sif replied, "Really? Why am I not surprised?" She glanced at Thor, waiting to see if he had any orders for them. He simply waved them off.

"We shall see you at the banquet hall in precisely one hour. Do not be late!" Thor warned them.

"As if that would happen with food involved," Fandral quipped.

"Or women!" Volstagg shot back. The four friends continued bantering as they exited the area.

After everyone left, Thor turned to Loki. "I am still not satisfied with her reason for coming here."

"Nor I," Loki agreed with him. "There have been too many incidents happening since her arrival. I do not believe they are all coincidence. Showing us these portals," he paused a moment. "that could have been a ruse to allow us to relax."

"I agree, but what do you think is her true motive?" Thor glanced at the Tesseract, which Loki was carrying. "Could it be the Tesseract?"

Loki shrugged. "She has had several opportunities to take it, yet she never did. I do not believe she is after this." He raised it up to stare into it for a few moments.

"Could it just be that she needs help? The Cartherions that came, they clearly are not happy with relinquishing power over to her. She is right that they want to kill her; that was quite clear."

"I wonder if that is the general consensus, though?" Loki was quick to defend his friend. He considered that briefly, wondering if his allegiance to her was due to the training he had received from her mother or something else?

"Good question. That is a small representation of the population; I wonder if everyone feels the same?"

"And why? What do they have against her? And why does she think someone is trying to put all the Infinity Stones together again? She did say another reason she came was to find the scepter, the Mind Stone." Loki tossed out the questions, all thoughts that had been racing through his mind during the time they had been working on closing the portals. "She does not appear to want the Tesseract, but the Mind Stone is another story."

"She is correct though, it does need to be retrieved. We must plan a trip to Earth tomorrow to find it. Perhaps we can send Lady Sif and Hogun to Cartherion while we go to Earth? They might be able to find out what the general feelings are, if Katirya is truly untrustworthy."

"I like that." Loki was glad that Thor was willing to try to find out more about Katirya. Again, he briefly tried to figure out his reasons for wanting to believe Katirya. Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, he focused on the fact that Thor was only sending two of his friends. "And what of Fandral and Volstagg?"

"The Thirteen." Thor let out a cryptic laugh. "I highly doubt that she will leave them here. The more eyes we have to watch them, the better."

"But even with Volstagg and Fandral with us, will it be sufficient to keep the Thirteen and Kiri under control? Do you think she might be trying to get the Mind Stone, like Storvirken did? Could that be her underlying plan?" Loki continued to battle with his feelings as he played the devil's advocate here. She might be trying to obtain more power and was simply using them. He did not want to believe that, but it was possible. He also reflected on the fact that Thor was choosing to send the Lady Sif to Cartherion and not bringing her to Earth with them. Was he planning to visit Jane Foster while they were there? He did not want to bring that topic up. He rather liked Jane Foster despite the fact she was mortal; in fact, he felt he could say that she was one of the reasons he was now King of Asgard, but he did wonder if Thor truly loved the human. His mind flashed back to that day when Thor had declared he did not want to rule, thinking he was speaking to Odin. He had plainly stated he would not change his mind even if Jane were allowed to rule beside him. Yet Thor seemed to avoid seeing Jane. Why?

Thor, unaware of the range of thoughts going through Loki's mind, considered the questions. "It could verily be. She knows the power the two together have. That would explain the total dislike of her by the families of Cartherion."

"Then it is decided. Fandral and Volstagg shall accompany us, while the other two shall visit Cartherion."

"We must be careful, though." Thor was quick to point out. "We cannot let Katirya know we are investigating her."

Loki nodded as he began walking out of the room and down the hallway. "She is bound to find out eventually; I just hope we can deal with it then."

As the brothers walked towards their rooms, a shadowy figure stepped out of his hiding place and disappeared through a portal that had not been closed.


	17. Chapter 17: Duplicity

Chapter 17: Duplicity

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

The feast was a joyous occasion; everyone loved celebrating for even the smallest of reasons. Food and wine flowed copiously throughout the evening. At one point, Thor took each of his friends aside and advised them that he wished to meet with them following the festivities.

As the evening finally wound down, Loki offered to escort Katirya back to her rooms and the two left, giving Thor the opportunity to meet with his friends. They moved to his rooms so they could enjoy a bit of privacy.

Once they were settled, with a bottle of wine to share, Thor outlined the plan. "Loki and I will be traveling with Katirya to Earth to retrieve the scepter. Fandral and Volstagg, you will accompany us. I need you to keep an eye on the Thirteen, make note of any odd activity."

Volstagg snorted with laughter. "Define 'odd'. That group is odd to begin with. There are, what? Five in physical form now, and eight with these cloaks and who knows what form they are in. Anything they do is downright odd."

"I know, but try to see if they do anything that needs to be further investigated. We have only seen them here; perhaps in another environment they might be different. That is, if they even come. Loki plans to speak with Katirya about them tonight."

"Oh, they will come. They follow her like shadows," Fandral pointed out.

"So what about us?" Sif gestured to herself and Hogun. "Do we just stay here?"

"No, you two are to travel to Cartherion. The attacks here have simply been too much of a coincidence. Loki and I agree that we need to find out more about what is going on in Cartherion, especially the feelings towards the Queen. She continues to insist they want to kill her."

Hogun and Sif looked at each other then nodded. "We can do that."

"The most important part, no one is to know about it. You must either leave before we do or after, but Katirya must not know."

"Won't she eventually find out?" Hogun asked.

"Yes, but by then we should have an answer. At least, I hope we do, and we can deal with it at that point."

"Should we tell people why we are there, or who we are?" Sif asked.

Thor considered her question a few moments before responding. "I shall leave that up to you. Use your good judgment. We need to discover what exactly is going on there and how she fits into this whole scene, especially in terms of the Infinity Stones."

"Consider it done. What if we return before you?"

"Unless you feel you have information we need to know, wait here for us to return. I do not imagine it will take long to retrieve the scepter."

Sif looked at Thor. "It is going to take us longer, so why don't we leave now?"

"That is up to you. Let Heimdall know your purpose and he can determine the best place in Cartherion to send you."

"Let's go then!" Sif rose and waited for Hogun to follow her.

_**~ß~ Katirya ~ß~**_

Katirya walked quietly with Loki, saying nothing until they reached her rooms. Entering into the rooms, she finally broke the silence. "So, we leave tomorrow for Earth?"

"Ah, yes." Loki replied. "I need to speak with you about that."

"The Thirteen?"

He nodded.

"They go where I go, I cannot stop them. However, the fact that eight turned against me and now go in their natural form, they can travel unseen by most. The other five," she shrugged and turned away from him, "we shall simply have to deal with them. This is not quite so bad as having thirteen following me, is it?"

"Thor intends to have Volstagg and Fandral come with us. He hopes that will help if they become a, um, problem."

"They have no chance against even the five, I am sorry to say. But… I do understand his caution." She turned to face him. "And what of the Lady Sif and Hogun? They do not join us?"

Loki did not reply at once. "They will remain here."

Katirya threw her head back and laughed. "Can you not tell the truth to your friend? I am still your friend, am I not?" She stepped closer and looked up at him. "He is sending them to Cartherion, is he not?"

Loki chuckled. "Now why would you say that Kiri?"

"Loki, seriously? You would have me think they remain here? If I were in your place I would send them to Cartherion. It is simply logical. You need to ascertain if I am indeed telling the truth."

"Ah, Kiri. Even if you are correct..."

"I care not that you feel the need to check up on me." Ducking her head down, she realized that she was a little hurt by the thought. Accepting the fact that she had said she would do the same were she in their place, she stepped away only to find Loki reach out and pull her back.

"Kiri," He sighed heavily, "do not take it personally. The attacks on Asgard…"

"Only show how important it is that you must verify my story. Do not make excuses." She tried to pull away but he only tightened his hold on her.

"I am not the one making excuses. You are the one who keeps putting words in my mouth." Loki pulled her closer. "Come, come. Let us not argue again."

Katirya looked up once more and relaxed. "Truce then. I suppose we ought to let Thor know that I am aware of his plan?"

Loki sighed. "I guess we ought to."

"I was right!" Katirya crowed triumphantly. "You are sending them to Cartherion!"

Loki opened his mouth to refute her claim, when he realized that she had tricked him into basically saying that they were indeed sending Sif and Hogun to Cartherion. Shaking his head. "You have bested me, Kiri. That does not happen often." Leaning down towards her face, he added softly. "And there is a price to be paid."

"Price?" She stepped back, noting he had released his hold.

"Oh yes," he replied, "there will be a price for that." Putting his arm around her waist, he guided her back into the hallways and turned towards Thor's rooms. "Let us go see my brother and his friends. We shall discuss this later."

They entered the rooms just as Sif rose to leave. Katirya noted that Thor looked startled to see them entering the room, and as she looked at each of the other occupants, she realized they were all staring at her, distrust clearly evident upon their faces.

_**~§~ Lady Sif ~§~**_

Loki spoke first. "She figured out the plan to send Sif and Hogun to Cartherion. It is no longer a secret we must keep from her."

"I would do the same in your place." Katirya spoke up. "You will find an interesting story when you arrive in my homelands, but I will not try to taint the experience by telling you any more than what I have already told you. Find the truth for yourselves and bring it back here. I only ask that you not tell anyone of my whereabouts."

"Why is that, for clearly they know you are here." Sif was puzzled. The Cartherions had sent a party specifically to kill Katirya.

"Only a few know, and unfortunately, they are not the ones whom I trust. I entreat you though, be wary of who you speak to. I trust no one there." A look of sadness passed briefly across her face.

Sif felt a sudden empathy for Katirya, seeing her at that moment. Knowing that the Asgardians did not trust her and hearing her say she trusted none of her kinsmen. To be so alone in the universe… she shook off the feeling.

"We shall be careful. Hogun?" She looked to her friend and gestured towards the door. "Shall we begin? The sooner we leave, the sooner we shall return."

The pair left the rooms to begin their journey.

"Well, this ought to be interesting." Sif remarked as they walked towards the Bifrost. She felt a little put out that Thor had not included her in the group going to Earth and wondered how much of it had to do with Jane Foster.

"Indeed." Hogun replied. "I wonder what they expect to discover?"

Sif shrugged. "They probably don't know, but if I were to lay bets on it, Katirya is lying. Thor is right, there have been too many coincidences to not be related."

They reached the Bifrost and were greeted by Heimdall. "So you head to Cartherion? I shall send you to the region where Katirya grew up. It is where Freya and Loki traveled often. There you can begin your investigation."

Sif nodded and waited while he prepared for them. Stepping into the Bifrost, they were suddenly whisked away to a small village of Cartherion.


	18. Chapter 18: Deception

Chapter 18 - Deception

_**~§~ Lady Sif ~§~**_

Sif looked around the meadow that Heimdall had deposited them. It was a pleasant enough location, surrounded by trees. To the south was a small dirt road leading towards a small town. They walked steadily towards the town for about an hour before finally reaching it, passing no one on the road. She was rather surprised at that, especially since it appeared they had arrived near the end of the day in Cartherion.

As they entered the town, they finally began to pass a few people. Everyone looked at them for a moment, recognizing them as strangers to this town, but no one paused to speak to them.

"Well, I suppose we can find a tavern or pub about somewhere. Probably the best place to start getting information."

Hogun paused at one intersection, peering down the narrow street. "Looks like there might be one down there."

They turned down the street and approached the pub, a sign over the door declaring it was known as "The Blue Cap" and guaranteeing good food. Entering, they looked around, seeing the pub was relatively empty with only a smattering of patrons. The few people present were eating in a desultory fashion and barely looked up to acknowledge the new arrivals.

Once seated, a young lady carrying a tray of empty glasses quickly approached them. "New here, eh?"

Hogun nodded. "Yes, just visiting."

"As long as you can pay, I don't care what you do. What'll you have? We have a good stew on the menu for tonight, although the chicken isn't half bad."

"The stew will be fine for me. Sif?" Hogun glanced over at her.

Sif thought of the feast they had left only a few hours ago. She wasn't overly hungry, but figured it might look odd if she did not eat. "Aye, the stew."

"Ale be all we got to drink." 

"That will be fine."

Nodding the lady hurried off. "You got it!" she shouted over her shoulder. She returned with glasses of ale, letting them know their meal would be ready in a few minutes.

The doors opened and a group of three men entered. Seeing the newcomers, they walked over. "Mind if we join you? Not often we see new faces in here."

Sif nodded and Hogun replied. "Please, do."

"Not from around here, are you?" The tallest one asked after they had all settled into their seats.

"No, we are simply traveling about and wandered here."

"Well, I am Gunnar and these are my neighbors Ovar and Alf."

"Hogun and Sif," Hogun offered the introductions in response.

"So, just wandering eh? You picked a strange time to visit."

"Why do you say that?" Sif spoke up.

"Well," Gunnar started but was interrupted by the arrival of food for the pair from Asgard. Seeing the stew, he looked up at the lady. "Still got some?" When she nodded, he ordered for the rest of the table. "Send out three more then. And you go ahead and eat while it's hot. Don't wait on us."

Sif took a taste of her stew. It was hot but rather bland. "Not bad," she commented.

Gunnar laughed heartily. "You mean, it's edible. Nothing much here is known for its taste, but it will fill your belly. Now, where was I? Oh, right. Strange things have been happening, ever since Beythran's daughter up and became Queen. We ain't had a queen for so long, came as rather a surprise. One would expect she'd remember those of us, where she grew up. Wouldn't you?"

Sif simply nodded, knowing that Heimdall had purposely set them down close to Katirya's hometown.

"Oh, she remembers us right enough," Ovar snorted. "Always wanting more from us. More money, more food, more… eh, you name it. Just wants more of everything."

"And sends nothing in return," Alf added.

"No, nothing in return. Whole family up and left for the capital the instant she took over the rule."

"We had heard there was a new queen." Sif offered that little bit of information, hoping to get the men to continue on.

"The _good _Queen Katirya. Only thing she has been good for is taking. I hear in the city they have parties and celebrations, but nothing for us."

Their food arrived and they began to eat.

Sif considered what they had said so far. It sounded as if Katirya really was queen, but the dislike for her was clear. It still did not explain why they would dislike her so much they wished to kill her, though. "So, how bad is it? Is she simply that bad of a ruler? Could it be her advisors perhaps?"

"Ha! Her mother is her advisor." Ovar answered.

"And that one brother of hers. The rest, they went with her, but we ain't heard much of them." Alf added this information. "The whole family's in on it. Getting fat off us, they are. We thought it was bad when the families were in charge of the High Council. She just went and made them more powerful than ever before."

Sif exchanged a glance with Hogun. "So it was bad before?" 

"Aye," Gunar replied as he finished off his stew. Taking a drink of his ale, he wiped his mouth and went on. "Council was bad, crooked more like. Taking bribes. If you had the money or supplies they wanted, they'd at least take care of you. Now, they just take everything. Pretty soon, won't be much left, but they don't care."

Sif looked down at her bowl of stew. She had hardly touched it and now had no appetite for it. Pushing it away, she picked up her drink and took a sip. The sour taste of the ale bit her taste buds and she set it down.

"You'd be best to wander somewhere else. Ain't nothing worth seeing here in Cartherion." Ovar pushed his empty bowl away as he spoke.

"We shall take your word on that and head out then. We thank you for the warning." Hogun rose and waited for Sif to join him. "How much for the meal?" He moved over to settle their tab and then the two left the pub.

"Well, that was interesting." Sif spoke first as they headed down the street. "Sounds like Katirya and her family simply did whatever they wanted. I think a trip to the capital city is in order."

The two left the town and headed for the city. Traveling overnight, they reached the outskirts as morning arose. Entering into the city, they moved towards the center where the Council met and the Queen apparently now resided. The closer they got to the city center, the more opulent the buildings became, a sharp contrast to what they had seen in Katirya's home.

The city was beginning to waken and the streets soon began to fill with people going about their daily business. As they neared the city center, it became obvious that some celebration was about to begin. A large market was setting up and the activity was more intense. Banners were strung across the streets and tents were being set up in the open areas.

"What is going on?" Sif asked one young woman they passed.

"There is a celebration, tis the Queen's birthday you know."

"Thank you." Sif looked at Hogun. "Care to go to a party?"

Hogun laughed. "Why not?"

She looked down at her armor. "Can't say that I'm dressed properly for a celebration."

"Nor I, but I doubt any will notice." He glanced around at the people streaming towards the festival. "They seem more intent on enjoying themselves than worrying about us."

"You are right, as always." She laughed. "I wonder though, if the Queen is celebrating her birthday, who then is in Asgard?"

"There is only one way to find that out. Let's go crash a party."

Eventually they reached the heart of the city; the festival was in full swing with vendors marketing banners and flags to celebrate the occasion. Sif spied a huge pavilion and pointed it out to Hogun. Pressing through the crowds with difficulty, they eventually reached the gaudily decorated tent. Upon entering, they were nearly deafened by roars proclaiming loyalty to the queen and her family.

"Well, the feelings of her hometown are not reflected here." Sif continued to move through the throngs, trying to get closer to the Queen. "There, I think that is the Queen." She pointed out a woman who looked almost identical to Katirya, standing upon a raised platform waving out to the crowd. She was dressed in a royal blue gown that was cinched at the waist with a golden belt, the Cronuth Stone and tiara exactly like the one the Katirya in Asgard wore. Seated next to her was an older woman and behind her were thirteen ladies dressed in black. As they got closer, she heard one person speaking to the seated woman, calling her Beythran.

Sif looked pointedly at Hogun. "Her mother seems very much alive to me, for a woman who was allegedly murdered."

"This is getting interesting. The _Katirya's _look exactly the same."

"Not exactly. This one is taller and a bit thinner. And the eyes." Sif noted the differences instantly. "This one has brown eyes, the one that is in Asgard has blue eyes."

"Okay, so a few small differences. She is still beautiful."

Sif laughed. "Only a man would say that."

The shouts of "Queen Katirya!" and "Long live the Queen!" resonated throughout the pavilion. The Queen continued to smile and wave at the throngs, although as they got closer, the smile seemed forced. Rolling her eyes, she finally turned toward the rear of the platform. The thirteen ladies in black also rose and prepared to follow her. Katirya leaned over and spoke quietly to Beythran.

Beythran rose and smiled thinly in response. "Aye, we can leave if you wish."

"I wish. I tire of this celebration." Katirya replied. "Let us find some place quieter, away from these… "she cast a look of disdain upon the gathering, "people. I would have a meal prepared." She tossed the order towards a man standing nearby. "I am hungry. And wine, not that vinegar you served last night."

The man's face remained passive until the Queen turned her back; a look of pure hatred crossed his face as he stared at her retreating form.

"Well," Sif whispered, "all is not perfect in paradise, it seems." Suddenly she thought of something. "Hogun? What was the nickname Loki used?"

"Why?"

"I want to find out if this is the real queen. One of them is not, that is obvious. She cannot be in two places at once. Katirya clearly is the Queen, but which one is Katirya? The woman in Asgard responded instantly to Loki's nickname."

Hogun thought for a few seconds before whispering back. "Kiri… that is what he called her. Said it was a childhood nickname."

Moving swiftly to get closer to the queen, Sif shouted, "Kiri!"

The queen did not even pause, but the man who'd been given the orders started and turned to look at Sif. Walking over to her, he hissed. "Who are you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"How do you know that name?" He gripped her forearms as he spoke.

"Name? Oh, I thought I recognized someone I had met once before, over there by the food table. I guess I was wrong." Sif tried to pull her arms away, only to find his grip tighten.

"Let us get out of here, quickly. We need to speak." He pulled her towards an exit.

Hogun raced to keep up. "Wait up there!" His hand moved to the hilt of his sword.

The man pulled Sif out of the pavilion and down a street, Hogun hustling to keep up.

"Where are we going?" Sif finally asked him.

"Some place we can talk." The terse response was given as he stopped at an intersection. Looking both ways, he finally turned right. "Is he your friend?"

Sif nodded.

They entered a small garden and the man finally stopped, releasing Sif. She rubbed her arms where he had been gripping her. "What was that all about?"

"Who are you?" He asked her, not bothering to answer her question.

"Why?"

"How do you know my sister?"

"Your sister is the queen?"

"No, _THAT_ is not my sister. That is an imposter the Council has set up. I am trying to find my sister. How do you know her?" He repeated.

Sif glanced at Hogun, who nodded in response. "I am the Lady Sif, of Asgard." She glanced around the gardens.

"It is safe here. Or as safe as it can possibly be. I am her brother, Micarian. My sister disappeared shortly after she claimed the Cronuth Stone. That… that creature has supplanted her, and my mother has disappeared. The Council is behind this and trying to blame my family. The lands are being sucked dry to feed the Council."

"But they called the woman Beythran…"

"That is NOT my mother. Trust me on that, I would know my own mother and my sister." He sighed heavily, pain and anger evident upon his face. "Things have not gone right since the tests. I do not know why Katirya chose to claim the Cronuth Stone, but she did. It shocked everyone. I did not know she had the power to. She never showed much interest in learning, never seemed to be able to do much. Then when she came of age and took the tests… " He was starting to ramble now. "Clearly you know her; you know her nickname. Few know that. Have you seen her lately?"

Sif looked at Hogun, then back to Micarian. "How do we know we can trust you?"

A noise startled him. "Come, we are no longer safe here." He led the way through the city until they reached the city's edge. Once they had left the city, he seemed to relax slightly. "You can trust me. As you can see, there are none about now that can protect me."

They were now standing in an open field, the gates of the city nearby. Hogun and Sif exchanged looks, speaking without words.

"We are from Asgard." Hogun finally offered. "I am Hogun and this is the Lady Sif. A day ago a woman arrived in the city claiming to be Katirya."

Micarian looked excited as the heard this news. "My sister? In Asgard? Is she okay?"

"She claimed to be queen of Cartherion, controlling the Cronuth Stone," Sif responded.

"She has the Stone? But…" Micarian looked towards the city. "That one has the Stone. You saw it."

"Yes, and we saw the one worn by the other Katirya," Hogun answered.

"Only one can be the real Stone. My sister had called up the Thirteen. They are not here either, although our Council would have you believe the entourage that follows the queen is the Thirteen." He spat upon the floor. "They defile our history and my family with their plots. If my sister truly controls the Cronuth Stone, she is the true ruler."

"The Katirya in Asgard did speak of the history of your lands." Hogun replied.

"But Kiri? How did you know that name? I cannot say that I have ever seen you in Cartherion before."

"Loki."

"I think you need to come back with us." Hogun moved closer to Micarian.

"Gladly, I would see my sister again. See the rule restored properly."

Sif considered his zeal at seeing his family back in power. She wondered what depths the treachery ran in Cartherion. It did seem as if the Katirya in Asgard was the one who claimed to be queen, but who was the woman that stood in her place? There was clearly much to discover. For now, they needed to return to Asgard and allow Thor to hear this man's story.

They had not been paying attention to the city and suddenly a battle cry went up as a troop of soldiers marched out. "Arrest them!"

"Heimdall!" Hogun shouted


	19. Chapter 19: Heroes & Legends

Chapter 19: Heroes and Legends

•_**£• **__Loki__** •£•**_

Morning found Loki reminiscing about the previous evening. This was perhaps the first time since he had assumed the throne he felt comfortable in the company of those around him. He attributed this to the presence of Katirya. For once, he was not the only one who caused distrust. They had spent a quiet hour in the gardens after their brief discussion. He laughed softly to himself as he recalled how she had tricked him.

Walking towards the Great Hall, he hesitated at one intersection. The hall to the left led towards the throne room; for some reason, he had a strong desire to head there. Yielding to his instinct, he turned left, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. Entering the throne room, he discovered Thor standing in the middle of the room, staring at the empty throne. Was his brother wondering if he had made the right choice? How much had Jane Foster played into Thor's decision to yield the throne to him?

As if reading his mind, Thor spoke, "Good morning brother. And no, I do not think I made the wrong choice, I was simply missing the guidance of both mother and father. Sometimes just standing in here, I can feel their presence."

"I did wonder when I saw you," Loki admitted.

"You understand the position better than I ever could, and you allow me to make decisions for Asgard."

"We do make a great team," Loki chuckled. "Are you looking forward to our trip to Earth? Will you see your Jane?"

"I hope to, but first we must secure that scepter."

"Let us gather up the rest then, and depart. The sooner we are away, the faster we shall return. By then way, Kiri suspects… nay, she knows that Sif and Hogun went to Cartherion."

"You told her?" Thor looked at his brother, a slight flash of anger crossing his face.

"Not in so many words. She had an idea we might do something like that."

Thor did not respond immediately, considering the information and finally accepting the fact. "I suppose it is for the best."

Footsteps could be heard heading in their direction. Both stopped talking to see who was coming in. Two guards entered and approached. "My lords. Heimdall has sent word that all is ready. The others await you at the Bifrost."

Joining the others at the Bifrost, Loki noted Katirya was conversing with Heimdall. As he moved closer, he realized they were discussing the Thirteen.

"Nay, the eight will not travel in physical form, only the five will. They will simply go where they will and have no need of the Bifrost in their present form."

"That explains why I cannot see them," Heimdall replied, then turned to Loki. "We are ready when you are."

Thor, upon entering, had moved to speak to Volstagg and Fandral, advising them that Katirya had guessed the whereabouts of Sif and Hogun. "Loki, are you sure you want to go? It is not necessary since we are simply retrieving the scepter."

"Why brother! How nice of you to be concerned for my reception; however, I look forward to renewing my _'friendship' _with the humans. Besides, your Tony Stark still owes me a drink," he laughed as he replied, knowing full well he most likely would not be well received, but it did not bother him. He rather enjoyed making people uncomfortable, especially the mortal humans.

Thor shook his head. "If you insist. I will do what I can but do not expect to be greeted with open arms. They were not exactly happy at the results of your last visit."

"If we are all ready then," Loki looked to Heimdall who activated the Bifrost. The group walked through it and arrived in the middle of Central Park in New York City.

Their arrival caused little notice, as there were only two joggers at the moment in the park. One stumbled when he heard the sound of thunder, and then saw Thor and the others. "Look! It's Thor!" he shouted to his running partner. The other jogger just shrugged and continued on, acting as if that were a normal occurrence during his morning run.

"Well, this is a rather nice place," Katirya was gazing about the park.

"This way," Thor pointed out Stark Tower off to the north.

"Rather obvious, isn't it?" Katirya remarked when she saw the huge tower.

"He is rather, um, arrogant," Loki was trying to be polite, but his personal opinion of Stark was not very high. He had found the man to be very conceited and brash. Of course, his own behavior had not been at its best, but …

They were suddenly approached by a small group of people. "Oh man! Those costumes are the bomb!" one young man shouted. "Can I get a picture?" He whipped his cell phone out of his skintight jeans. His spiked hair was colored purple and blue.

"Are you guys going to Heroic Con?" a young lady in the group asked. She was dressed all in black with a large nose ring. Her lanky black hair had a hot pink streak.

"Uh, yes. Heroic Con," Thor replied.

"That is a wild Thor costume, and your Loki outfit is great. Did you make them yourselves or buy them? I haven't seen anything that good on eBay." The lady stepped closer to inspect their clothing. "Even the weapons look real. Great job!" She turned to look at Katirya. "I don't recognize that outfit. What genre is that?"

Loki had decided to leave all the talking to Thor since he had been among these humans more. He glanced over at Katirya who smiled in response to the lady's query.

"It's…" she paused as she considered what would be an appropriate response, "just a woman of Asgard. Same, um, genre as theirs." She stepped closer to Loki and whispered. "Is this normal? I got the impression that we would be the odd looking ones. They seem to think we belong here."

"Are you reading their minds?"

She nodded. "They are so simple, so open with their thoughts. They do nothing to hide them."

The first man had been pointing his cell phone at the group from Asgard, and then he looked down at it. "Wow! These are great! Say! Can I get a picture with you? No one at school will believe this." Without waiting for a response, he tossed his phone to another in the group and quickly ran to stand next to Thor. He turned to face his friend, who quickly snapped the photo.

He took back his phone and looked at the picture. Holding it up to Thor. "This is great! Ain't it?"

Thor simply looked at the display and nodded. "Yes, great."

"We'll have to watch for you at the Con. You guys are awesome. Are you entering the costume contest?"

"Perhaps, we shall have to see."

"Well, if you do, I'll be there cheering for you. Thor is my favorite Avenger," He looked over to Loki. "No offense man, but Thor just rocks."

"No way!" Two of the girls in the group shouted out. "Captain America."

"You just like the costume," the purple-haired man joked.

The group finally left, chattering about the quality of the costumes they'd just seen. Their comments could still be heard for several moments more as they walked away. Thor looked at Loki. "Sorry brother, I seem to be the favorite."

"As always," Loki replied. "Well, it seems we fit right in. What is this 'heroic con'?"

"Some convention for the humans. Happens every year from what I could gather. Most people wear costumes or outfits of their favorite hero or character from a movie or game," Katirya offered the information.

They continued on, being accosted periodically for more photos. Now that they knew what was expected, they were able to smile and simply say they were there for the Hero Con. Eventually they reached Stark Tower.


	20. Chapter 20: Bedlam

Chapter 20: Bedlam

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

Thor stared up at the huge tower bearing the name "STARK" so blatantly upon it. The others stood behind him and their group had grown to include the Thirteen. They had not been present until they had gotten to within a block of Stark Tower. He wondered where they had been.

As if she had read his mind, Katirya spoke up. "They have been with us all along. I felt it best they remain out of sight until now. I can have them disappear again if you feel it best."

"That might be wise. We are a rather large group as it is." 

Katirya nodded and the Thirteen suddenly faded from sight. He stared at where they had been standing, but could see nothing. "Are they still there?"

She nodded. "Aye."

"Well, let us go find this scepter." He opened the door and entered, only to be stopped by a security guard.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" the guard demanded.

"Thor, Defender of the Nine Realms. I have come to visit Tony Stark."

"Mr. Stark is not receiving any visitors at this time."

"I am certain if you tell him I am here, he will see me."

"Yeah, right. That's what everyone says. Go on back to your hotel. We've had three nutcases already from Heroic Con trying to get past us to see Mr. Stark."

Thor realized the guard had mistaken them for people attending the convention, exactly as the group they met earlier had done.

"I would not call him a nutcase, if I were you," Loki's soft voice held veiled hints of violence. "He is rather dangerous."

"Well, I'm dangerous too!" The guard patted the gun at his waist as he focused on Loki. "Who do you think you are? Loki? Ha!" the guard started to laugh.

"Actually, yes."

"And this is the Queen of Sheba and they're the Bobbsey Twins, right?" the guard pointed at Katirya, Volstagg and Fandral respectively

"Actually she is the Queen of Cartherion, and they are part of the Warriors Three of Asgard," Thor corrected him. "Now, if you will just move aside…"

The guard had apparently summoned others, for three more security guards suddenly appeared from behind him. "You guys aren't going anywhere but out of here."

"I do not think you want to try to stop us," Thor warned.

"We've got guns," the guard did a quick inspection of Thor's party. "And it looks like all you have is what, a fake hammer?" He started to laugh again and his three friends joined in. Suddenly the four security guards fell to the floor and began barking like dogs.

"Loki!" Thor shouted as he saw the barking guards suddenly transformed into puppies.

Loki burst out laughing before finally replying. "Not me, Thor. At least, not this time, though I must admit they look rather adorable."

Thor shifted his gaze to Katirya, who grinned innocently up at him. "They were beginning to sound redundant. And you must admit, their bark is worse than their bite."

"Kiri!" Thor spoke. "Change them back, at once!"

Katirya let out a huff of breath. "Fine!" she crinkled her nose up at him, and offered him a pouty look upon her face.

The puppies quickly changed back to the guards, although Thor noticed their weapons were now missing. The guards rolled about on the floor for a second before realizing they were no longer canines. While they were trying to figure out what had happened to them, Thor motioned for his group to move towards the elevator. The doors opened and they entered. As the doors slid closed, they could hear an alarm begin to sound.

"You should have let me keep them as puppies. Less trouble." Katirya observed.

_**~∂ Tony Stark ∂~**_

"Tony?" Pepper Potts sat down at the breakfast table and called out. "Breakfast is ready."

"Breakfast? I thought you said you were going to London today?" Tony came into the room, reading a paper he was carrying. He took his glasses off and set them down on the table before pulling a chair out and taking a seat.

"Yes, after the board meeting. You didn't forget the board meeting did you? And then you are presenting tonight at the Heroic Con," Pepper picked up her fork and started eating some scrambled eggs.

"Board meeting? Oh, right. Board meeting. Remind me again why I am presenting at this silly convention?"

Pepper rolled her eyes and set down her fork. "You are meeting Natasha and two others for this. They wanted a Real Heroes panel for their evening keynote and you volunteered. Someone is supposed to come over this afternoon to escort you to the convention."

"Why did I do that?" Tony set down his paper and started eating. Suddenly the alarms went off. "Jarvis! Didn't you get that fixed yet?"

"I believe we have visitors," Jarvis' metallic voice sounded over the intercom.

"Well, tell them we aren't buying any Girl Scout cookies this year," Tony shouted over the cacophony, "and get those alarms fixed!"

"Sir, the alarms are going off because of the visitors. They appear to have breached security and are in the elevators now. There are five passengers one looks like Thor and the other five are also in costume. Perhaps they are your escorts for the convention?"

"Why would they breach security then?" Pepper asked. "If they are your escorts…"

"Probably wanted to prove something. Those con people are all strange. Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"See that they don't bother me until it is time to leave for this silly …"

"I am sorry sir, but it is too late."

The elevator doors slid open and Thor burst into the room, followed by Katirya, Loki, Volstagg and Fandral.

Tony looked up. "Nice costumes, but I thought this keynote was at 8 o'clock tonight; it's only," he glanced at his clock, "ten… in… the… morning." He spoke slowly; emphasizing each word to allow them to understand his displeasure at being interrupted this early.

Thor looked at him quizzically, not quite understanding what Tony was talking about.

Katirya piped up. "I think he thinks we are from the Con thing."

Tony glanced at her as soon as she spoke. "I LIKE that outfit. Say," he glanced over at Pepper, "how about you get one of those, uh, bodice things? I think you'd look great in one." His hands shaped out a female figure, emphasizing how the bosom was pushed up. "Where did you get that?"

Katirya laughed in response. "It was made for me."

"I can see that," Tony's eyes roamed over her entire body.

Pepper rolled her eyes once more. "Tony!"

"Well, you would look good in one," he glanced over at Pepper. "Light brown? What do you think?"

"Tony!" Suddenly she shrieked and pointed to the patio. The Thirteen had suddenly appeared out on the patio.

"Jarvis!"

"Sir? I do not know who or what those are, nor how they arrived."

"They are mine," Katirya spoke up. "More or less."

"Emphasis on the less in terms of eight of them," Loki added.

"Loki, really?" Katirya sighed.

"Loki?" Tony took his eyes off the Thirteen and moved closer to the group. "You do have some great costumes, but you can get out of character or whatever it is you call it. And what trick did you use to get them to just appear out there?"

"Uh, Tony," Pepper chimed in, "I do not think they are costumes. I think that really is Thor." The Thirteen had started to move about and the eight that were disembodied were now floating over the edge of the patio. "I don't think the people from the convention can do that."

Tony turned to look once again at the Thirteen, just as eight disappeared completely. "Wow! That is good!"

"I really am Thor," Thor finally spoke up. "I have come to ask for something back."

Tony focused on Thor. "Something back? I have something of yours? And if you really are Thor," he pointed to Loki, "what is he doing here? When you left the last time, you were taking him back to answer for his crimes."

"Loki is now King of Asgard."

"King?" Tony looked at Thor incredulously. "What? That is how you make him answer for his crimes? Is being king that bad? I mean, most people would be in jail or something, you go ahead and make him a king?"

"It's rather complicated, but yes. Loki is now King of Asgard."

"So who are the rest of these people?" Tony waved a hand towards the group with Thor and the Thirteen respectively.

"Volstagg and Fandral, two of my warriors," Thor introduced each man, then gestured towards Katirya, "and Queen Katirya of Cartherion. Those are her guards out there on your overlook."

"Queen?" Tony moved closer to inspect Katirya. "You're a queen? I still like the bodice thing though. Pepper? Are you sure I can't get you one? Katirya, right? Queen Katirya?"

"Kiri is fine, please." Katirya interjected as soon as Tony paused for breath.

"I'm Tony Stark, also known as…"

"Ironman. Yes, I am well aware of that," Katirya finished his sentence.

"You know me? I don't think we've ever met before, have we? I would think I would have remembered you," Tony focused once more on the bodice.

"No, we have not met. It is simply you are practically screaming in your mind who you are."

"Wait a minute. You can read minds?" Tony looked at Thor. "Can she read minds?" He slapped a hand to his forehead. "Tell me what I'm thinking."

Katirya sighed before replying. "You still believe we are from that convention thing."

"How did she know that?" Tony looked at Thor, then Loki. "She really can read minds?" Loki and Thor both simply nodded.

"And as Thor indicated, we are here to find something that Loki left behind," Katirya spoke.

"I did not really leave it behind, it was more like I had no choice in the matter at the time," Loki explained.

"Left behind? What did you leave behind? You took that Tesseract thing; I remember that. And you're the King? I am still finding that hard to process. Is it really a punishment?" Tony stepped towards Loki.

"Yes, it can be trying at times, especially now. But my scepter - Natasha Romanov had it last. Did she take it or is it still here?" Loki finally asked.

"The scepter? Jarvis?"

"Sir, I do believe the scepter is still here. And we have more visitors, sir."

"More visitors? Who is it this time?"


	21. Chapter 21: Chaos

Chapter 21 - Chaos

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

"I believe it is…" The elevator doors slid open before Jarvis could finish. Loki watched as Jane Foster entered the room, followed by Darcy and Ian.

"Thor!" Jane shrieked in delight as soon as she caught sight of him.

"Jane!" Thor burst into a smile.

"Why did you not tell me you were here?" Jane admonished him as she walked towards him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Loki noticed Katirya suddenly stiffen.

"That is NOT Jane Foster!" Katirya hissed.

Loki watched as Katirya crouched down, closing her eyes briefly. She seemed to be centering her energy on something, and if Loki was right, it was on Jane Foster. He was proven correct as Katirya clasped both hands in front of her face and opened her eyes, which had turned to the glittering silver he recognized from her destruction of the eight back in the Vaults. She was going to kill Jane!

"Kiri, NO!" Loki shouted, causing all eyes in the room to focus on Katirya.

Thor's grip on Mjölnir tightened, preparing to defend Jane if he needed to. "Kiri, do not do this."

Katirya ignored them and focused intently on Jane. Seeing disaster looming, Loki realized he needed to make an instant decision. Thor or Kiri? Who was right?

Katirya straightened up and dashed both fists towards the floor in an explosive gesture, causing a burst of white light to flash across the room directly towards Jane.

With a slight flick of his wrist, Thor released Mjölnir. Loki made his decision as the hammer flew through the air. He leapt to try to incept the hammer, stretching he tried to reach it and felt it glance off his hand before he hit the ground. He watched as Mjölnir continued unhindered on its path, despite his efforts.

The hammer hit Katirya in the belly, lifting her off the ground and throwing her into the window. The glass smashed as she hit it and her trajectory continued until she slammed into the retaining wall of the patio. She crumpled to the ground, blood flowing from the many cuts she received from the breaking glass as she crashed through the window.

Loki rose and moved towards her when he saw a few of the Thirteen head her way. Figuring they could attend to Katirya, he turned to look at Jane to find her lying dead upon the ground as he had expected.

A shriek rose up from Darcy. "You killed her! WHY?" She knelt down next to Jane, crying. Ian hovered over her, trying to comfort her.

Loki stood transfixed by the scene in front of him. Darcy was sobbing hysterically while Thor seemed to be moving in slow motion towards Jane, barely able to comprehend what had happened. Then he watched as Thor rounded on Katirya, rage clearly evident upon his face.

"YOU WITCH!" Thor shouted increasing his pace towards Katirya.

Loki did not need to read any minds to know that his brother intended to kill Katirya!

A slight movement from the body of Jane caught his eye and he watched in sheer amazement as the body shifted from that of Jane to an alien creature. The change started first with the skin, as it reddened then seemed to glisten. The limbs seemed to melt for a moment before forming into tentacles. "Thor! NO! She is right, that is not Jane!" He stepped in Thor's path, only to find himself flung aside as if he were a feather.

"OH… MY… GOD! THOR! What is this… this…?" Darcy had risen, staring at the thing now lying in Jane's place.

Darcy's scream stopped Thor in his tracks, just inches away from Katirya. "What in hell is that?" He whirled back to stare down at Katirya. "What have you done to her?"

Katirya raised her head slightly. "That was not Jane."

"Then where is she?" Thor demanded.

"I do not know, I just knew that was not a human." Blood was dripping down her face from a cut upon her brow. She reached a hand to try to stop the bleeding, only managing to smear it more across her face and into her hair. Her hands and arms were bleeding profusely as well.

"Thor, she is injured," Loki tried to get Thor to settle down by reasoning with him. "And how would she know where Jane is?"

"How do I know you are not lying? That you are simply masking the real Jane to make it look like a creature?" Thor shouted at Katirya, his rage returning. "Where is JANE?"

At that instant, Darcy's cell phone went off. Darcy's eyes widened and she stared at her phone. "It's the ringtone I use for Jane."

All eyes turned to look at Darcy as she answered the phone.

"Hello?" Darcy spoke hesitantly into the phone. Suddenly she yelled in joy and hit the speaker button so others in the room could hear the conversation. "JANE! Where the hell are you?"

"What do you mean where am I?" Jane's voice came through distinctly. "I am waiting in Central Park for you, with Erik. You called me and told me that Thor was here, and to meet you. So I did, but you are not here. That's why I am calling you. To make sure you…"

"Thank god, you're alive! And Thor IS here, he is standing across the room…" Darcy cut Jane off.

Thor ran and grabbed the phone out of Darcy's hand. "Jane! You're alive?"

"Thor?" Jane sounded confused. "Where are you? And of course I am alive. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I am at Tony Stark's, and… it is difficult to explain. Just come over here."

"Then why did Darcy tell me to meet her here in Central Park? She said you were here."

"We were in Central Park, but came here. Heimdall sent us there for some reason, but…"

"Don't go anywhere," Jane stopped him. "I'm coming right over there…. Erik! Hail a taxi!"

The phone disconnected and Thor stared at it in his hand, relief evident in his face.

Loki looked at his brother, glad that Katirya had been right; a sound behind him caused him to shift his attention back to Katirya. Five of the Thirteen were now surrounding her.

Katirya suddenly spoke in a low, threatening voice. "Mythean, you do not understand."

"Oh, I understand well enough. It should have been mine!" Mythean yelled. "I should be King!"

Loki saw the man reach towards the tiara containing the Cronuth Stone. Katirya held her blood-covered arms up in front of her defensively.

"It was never yours. You had the chance but could not control it."

"Once I have it, I will make you AND it do my bidding!" Mythean replied, pulling a dagger out and raising it.

"Even if you possess it, you cannot control it, you fool!" Katirya tried to move away by scrambling along the floor. She found her path blocked by another of the physical Thirteen. "Traitors!"

Mythean brought the dagger down swiftly.

"NO!" Loki and Thor shouted simultaneously.

Mythean had raised his hands above his head, clutching the tiara with the Cronuth Stone triumphantly, and a whoop of joy coming from him. Suddenly he collapsed, his body dissipating into the air. A pile of clothing was all that remained. The tiara clattered to the floor and rolled away.

Thor reached down and retrieved the tiara.

Loki saw Katirya move slightly, a burst of light flashed and the remaining five of the Thirteen collapsed and joined Mythean. With a heavy sigh, she collapsed into unconsciousness. He raced to her fallen form, noting the puddle of blood she now lay in, Mythean's dagger buried in her body.


	22. Chapter 22: Unfinished Business

Chapter 22: Unfinished Business

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

Thor was stunned by the turn of events. Katirya lay unconscious upon the ground after being attacked by one of her own. Total chaos seemed to rule the room at the moment. The Thirteen were all dead, if one could call them dead. They were no longer in any physical form at least. Jane was still alive, but now there was some creature here lying dead that had pretended to be Jane. How had Katirya known it was an imposter? He stared down at the tiara he was holding in his hands. What was going on?

Darcy, anxious to get away from the alien creature, quickly moved across the room to join the brothers, Ian trailing behind. "Thor? What or who is that? And why did it pretend to be Jane?"

Volstagg and Fandral finally moved from the spot they had been riveted to. Everything had happened so fast, and Thor's actions had taken them completely by surprise. They began to inspect the alien for clues.

Thor shook his head. "I know not why it did that, but it is not of Earth."

"My guess is that they are after the Stones." Loki spoke up. He had knelt down beside Katirya and was inspecting her wounds. The dagger was buried in her shoulder. Grabbing the hilt, he pulled it free. Blood flowed profusely from the wound. "Get me something to stop the bleeding!" he shouted out.

Pepper was the first to respond, grabbing some towels and running to the patio. She handed Loki the towels, which he quickly pressed to the wound. Katirya stirred but did not regain consciousness.

"Pepper, go get the first aid kit," Tony spoke up. "You know the one, down in my lab."

Pepper nodded and disappeared down to the lab.

Loki watched as the blood continued to seep through the towels. He looked up to see Pepper returning with more supplies. She knelt down across from him. Loki lifted the towel slightly, and she quickly replaced the towel with some gauze. The two worked quickly to bandage up the wound.

"That should help to stop the bleeding." Pepper rose and moved to a sink to wash the blood off her hands.

Katirya stirred, her eyes suddenly flying open. She tried to sit up only to find Loki pressing her down. "Let me go!"

"Shh, be still. You've been stabbed." Loki continued to hold her down. "You've lost a lot of blood."

As Katirya's hand flew to her shoulder, she saw the other wounds upon her arms, caused from crashing through the glass. She stared at them for a moment, slightly puzzled. "Stabbed?"

Thor shuffled uncomfortably, feeling responsible for the entire episode. If he had not tried to stop Katirya, Mythean would not have been able to take advantage of the opportunity to attack her. "Yes, I am sorry."

Katirya recalled the events that had just transpired. She looked across the room at the dead creature. "No, do not apologize. You did what you felt right. You had no idea that was not Jane Foster and I had no idea I was harboring more traitors."

"How did you know that was not Jane?"

"His mind; it was filled with hatred for you and Loki. He wanted nothing but to destroy you both," she shuddered slightly.

Thor noted that she referred to the alien as a 'he'. "Us? Not you? This creature was after us?"

Loki had allowed his grip on her to lessen as he heard this. Taking advantage of the lack of attention he was paying her, she sat up suddenly. Her face paled considerably and she almost fell back of her own accord.

Loki reached out to support her, "I told you to be still. You are weak from the blood loss."

"Um, guys. I really think you need to do something to stop that bleeding. You can talk later," Darcy piped up. She peered around Thor to stare down at Katirya. "That's a pretty deep wound. Shouldn't she see a doctor or something?"  
>Thor nodded. "Yes, we must get you to the healers."<p>

Katirya shook her head, causing the cut upon her brow to open up once more. "No, not now. There is too much unfinished business to attend to. I will be fine." Blood began to drip down her face and into her eyes. She brushed at it, adding more streaks to her already blood-covered face and hair.

Loki laughed at the picture she made. Her bloody face did not lend itself to believing she could do much right now. "Truly? I think you need to reconsider that, Kiri." By this time, Pepper had returned with a wet cloth. Loki accepted it and wiped the blood from Katirya's face.

"Here," Pepper handed him some medicated cream, "this should help stop the bleeding."

Loki applied the cream. "Now, what unfinished business is so important that you cannot go to the healers?"

"We still need to locate your scepter," Katirya looked up at Thor, "and Jane for another. We need to speak to her, find out how she got lured to this Central Park." She caught sight of her tiara, still in Thor's hands. He held it out to her.

She shook her head. "No, keep it for now. I do not need it. "Mythean… he surprised me. He…" she stopped, not finishing the sentence, a look of anguish upon her face.

Loki looked at her suspiciously. "What about Mythean?"

"He… " she hesitated before replying, her eyes shifting over to where Mythean had last been standing alive, "he was my sister's husband," she finally replied flatly.

"Your sister's husband?" Thor was confused now. "You made your sister's husband one of your Thirteen? Why would you do that? I thought you said the Thirteen were from the other families?"

"He is, or rather was from another family. My sister married him. It was an excellent match and I thought it would be a good move to include him as one of the thirteen, as the representative from his family. He was a powerful Seer. I did not realize how much he wanted the Cronuth Stone, unless his family is behind this. Either way, he truly did not understand it. I wonder what my sister told him of me? He might have felt my abilities incapable of really controlling the Stone, and thus felt since he was such a strong Seer, he would be the better owner of the Stone." Katirya offered a possible explanation.

The Thirteen had all returned, ethereal in form, standing at the far end of the patio. Volstagg and Fandral, having concluded their inspection of the alien, were now standing at the edge of the patio keeping an eye on the group.

"Did you discover anything?" Thor asked his friends.

"Just another Skrull, Thor," Fandral joked.  
>"Another? The first was after the Tesseract and the Cronuth. They are intent upon getting them it seems." Thor sighed and focused back to Katirya. "So, what happens to the Thirteen?" Thor asked. "And what of the Stone?"<p>

"I would ask that you lock the Stone up in your Vaults for now with the Tesseract. I feel it will be safer there. The Thirteen?" Katirya shrugged,"they are bound to the Stone, and thus to me as I still control the Stone. They will do as I bid.""

"Do you not need the Stone to control them? For your other powers?" Loki asked her.

"Think Loki, your scepter. What did it do? Did you not still have your other powers?"

"It affected the minds of those I chose, but yes, I did still have my other powers."

"Exactly. That stone in your scepter is the Mind Stone. It only works on the minds of others. The Cronuth is the Soul Stone. I can only use it for that purpose. It has no affect on my powers. Until I can regain power in Cartherion, I do not need the Stone. The Thirteen will still continue to obey and protect me."

"Well," Darcy spoke up once again. "They didn't do such a great job at protecting."

Katirya laughed lightly. "But I am still alive, although after my sister hears of this, I might not be." Her face turned serious once again. "Nor the other families. I had hoped that Mythean's marriage to my sister would make him trustworthy. I can see I was wrong." Sighing, she looked at Loki. "Help me stand up."

"I do not think…" Loki started, but before he could finish, she had used him to leverage herself to a standing position. She started to sway, reaching out quickly, Thor swept her up in his arms before she could fall down.

"Sir?" Jarvis' voice interrupted. "I believe the scepter has been located."

"Where is it?" Tony asked.

"In the closet in your bedroom."

"I'll be right back." Tony left the room to retrieve the scepter.

Loki stood up and was about to follow after Tony when Jarvis spoke up once again.

"I believe Jane Foster has arrived."

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

The elevator hummed to a stop and the doors slid open. Jane stepped out followed closely by Dr. Erik Selvig.

"Thor!" Jane shrieked in delight, echoing the same exact words and tone the creature had only a short time ago. Then she saw the woman in Thor's arms. "Who is that?"

Katirya, a wicked gleam in her eyes, suddenly shifted her arms to clutch at Thor. Loki shot her a piercing look. What was the minx up to now, he thought.

Thor struggled to disentangle himself from Katirya's hold, "This is Katirya. Katirya, this is Jane Foster."

Katirya simply smiled sweetly up at him. "Yes, I know it is the real Jane Foster."

Jane suddenly caught sight of the dead alien. "What is that?"

"That is not the real Jane Foster." Katirya tilted her head to look at Jane.

"Oh man, you totally missed it!" Darcy added. "There was this flash of light and she killed the creature, only it didn't look like that then. It looked like you, only it wasn't you, but I thought it was you. Then these black things, like those ring wraiths in that Lord of the Rings movie? Remember that one? Well…" She pointed out to the patio where the Thirteen still hovered. "See? Aren't they so cool? It was wild. Where were you?"

"I told you on the phone, I was in Central Park. You called me to meet you there."

"I did not call you. You came over to ask me to come here with you. Only …" Darcy looked at the alien, "I guess it wasn't you. It did look like you."

Jane looked jealously at Katirya, who was still nestled close to Thor.

Loki stifled a laugh, rather enjoying seeing his brother in this situation. He wondered how he was going to get out of it.

Thor released his grip on Katirya, which caused her feet to quickly drop to the floor. Katirya's feet hit the floor and her knees gave way and she slumped, causing Thor to quickly pick her back up.

Katirya's face had paled once again and Loki noticed she drew in a sharp breath at the sudden movements. Taking pity on his brother, he moved over and held his arms out. "Let me take her."

"What's wrong with her?" Jane demanded as Thor transferred Katirya to Loki's arms.

"She was stabbed. Right after Thor sent Mew-Mew at her. See, he thought it was you when it wasn't you. So she said it wasn't you and he threw Mew-Mew at her, but she still managed to kill you, only it wasn't you, obviously," Darcy pointed at the alien. "Then while we were all watching you turn into that, one of her people stabbed her!"

Erik Selvig finally spoke up, pointing at Loki. "What is HE doing here? I thought you said he was dead?"

"He was dead; at least I thought he was dead."

"It was all part of a plan to deceive Malekith in order to destroy the Aether. I had to let everyone think I was dead." Loki hoped no one would bother to delve deeper into this little subterfuge of his. He was fortunate, for at that moment, Tony returned bearing the scepter.

"Found it!" Tony held the scepter aloft and started to head towards Loki to give it to him.

"NO! Don't give it to him! Remember what he did the last time?" Erik shouted.

"Right," Tony looked at the other occupants of the room and chose Thor. "Here, you can take it."

"I'll take it," Jane stepped forward and grabbed it out of Tony's hands. "What on earth do you want with this? And why would you even consider giving it back to him after what he did the last time he had it?"

Loki chuckled sheepishly. "Well, that… I wasn't quite myself. Trust me…"

Jarvis' voice interrupted once again. "Sir, there are more people arriving.

"What is this? A party?" Tony asked.

"We need to get out of here," Katirya spoke. "Now!"

"Now?" Loki looked down at her. He saw her face had gone white and she nodded.

"They aren't human."

Loki looked at his brother. "We need to leave."

"Heimdall!" Thor shouted as he grabbed Jane and Darcy, pulling them closer to him. Ian grabbed at Darcy. Erik, overcoming his fear of Loki, stepped into the circle where the rainbow of the Bifrost was forming.

"Wait!" Tony spoke; only to find both he and Pepper had been drawn into the strange vortex by Fandral and Volstagg and were being whisked away.

_Author's note: I am searching for a beta for this story. Please PM me if interested. _


	23. Chapter 23: Unresolved

Chapter 23: Unresolved

•_**£• Loki •£•**_

"Wow! That was awesome! And this place is totally cool!" Darcy looked around the chamber the Bifrost had transported them to. "Is this how you always travel?"

Thor chuckled, "Yes, it is. Heimdall, have the Lady Sif and Hogun returned?"

"Yes," Heimdall's deep voice rumbled, "and they have brought one other."

"They did?" Thor was rather surprised to hear this.

Loki spoke up. "I am going to take Kiri to the healers." Sif and Hogun entered as he approached the door, Katirya's brother in their wake.

"Mica!" Katirya shouted in joy, seeing her brother entering.

"Kiri! What has happened to you? Have they harmed you?" He glared at Loki as he rushed to his sister.

Loki sighed as he set Katirya down, making sure to support her fully so she could greet her brother.

Katirya reached out to embrace her brother with her one good arm, her injured arm held close to her body, relying on Loki's support. "They have not harmed me. It was…" she stopped and unexpectedly burst into tears.

"Who did this to you, Kiri?" Micarian asked as he roughly pulled his sister away from Loki, glaring up at him.

Loki, surprised by the sudden outburst from Katirya, relinquished her readily. He stared at her curiously, as the sudden emotional response was unlike anything she'd shown them so far. It also did not ring true for some odd reason, but he wasn't able to figure it out.

Katirya, weak from her wounds, collapsed into her brother. Micarian staggered back several steps before he regained his balance. "Mica! Please, stop this. It was Mythean. Thor and Loki have been nothing but helpful."

"Mythean? But he is one of the Thirteen!"

"Was," Katirya corrected him, tears still running down her face. "I had to merge him, as well as all the others. Mythean exists no more."

Micarian pushed Katirya slightly away from his body so he could look at her face. "You did what? Our sister is going to kill you."

"I know," Katirya sighed heavily as she clutched his arms to maintain her balance, "but I had no choice. He is the one who stabbed me. How did you find me?"

Micarian nodded to Sif and Hogun. "They were in Cartherion, and said you had come here. There is an imposter ruling in your stead. I have been searching for you ever since I discovered it. Things are not good at home. You need to come back."

"I cannot right now. I…" Katirya did not finish the sentence, instead her eyes closed and she fainted, slipping out of Micarian's grasp.

Loki moved quickly to scoop her up. "To the healers with you." He glanced down at her and noticed a slight flutter of her eyelashes. "I do not know what you are about, but we will deal with this after the healers attend to you," he whispered, letting her know he was fully aware of the fact she was still conscious.

Her eyes fluttered slightly, then snapped open. She glared up at him, and then a wave of pain hit her and her face paled.

"We're almost there." He walked into the healing rooms and was quickly surrounded by healers who directed him over to a bed.

"What happened?"

"She was stabbed in the shoulder."

"And the other wounds?"

"Thor sent her through a plate glass window by mistake."

"By mistake?" The head healer looked at him.

Loki simply shrugged in response.

They moved her to one of the beds and activated the Soul Forge. An image quickly formed over Katirya and the healers inspected it, searching for any signs of problems.

One suddenly pointed out four objects in the field hovering above Katirya.  
>"There! That is what is causing the problem. Two are near her heart and two are near the brain. We must act quick!"<p>

Grabbing an instrument, another healer quickly held it over Katirya's head, where two of the objects were located, and slowly moved it towards the original wound. Loki watched as the objects in the field over Katirya followed the movements of the instrument the healer was holding. Suddenly, two pieces of metal literally flew out of the original wound and hit the instrument. The objects disintetrated with a small popping sound.

"That takes care of those two, now for these…" the healer repeated her actions, holding the instrument over Katirya's heart, "these are more embedded. We might need to create an incision…"

Katirya suddenly winced in pain. "Stop!" She reached up, trying to grab the healer's hand that held the instrument.

"We cannot. If we stop, these will kill you." The healer nodded to two others, who quickly restrained the injured woman.

Katirya struggled violently, causing the objects to move closer to her heart.

"Kiri! Hold still!" Loki stepped in to aid in restraining her.

"Hurts!" Katirya gasped then suddenly went limp.

Taking advantage of Katirya's unconsciousness, the healers worked quickly to remove the final pieces. Taking a sharp knife, one healer expertly cut into the flesh above her heart, giving the unknown pieces an easy exit. Like the first two, these hit the instrument, but only one disintegrated. The second remained whole for almost a minute before it exploded in flames.

"You are fortunate you arrived when you did. Much longer and those would have killed her." The healer holding the instrument spoke.

"What were those?" Loki asked.

"What was she stabbed with?" The healer responded with a question. "Do you still have it?"

"A dagger, and no. I left it back on Earth."

"That is unfortunate. I would have liked to have seen it. It possibly was poisoned as well as carrying those fragments. They were clearly designed to detach when embedded in flesh and travel towards the heart center and the brain. Once they entered those organs, they would destruct, like they did when they hit my instrument."

The healers quickly attended to Katirya, stopping the bleeding. "She will need to rest."

Loki nodded. "Let me know when she awakens. I have several questions I must ask her." He turned and left the room, heading back to rejoin the others.

_**~∫ Thor ∫~**_

"Tell me, what did you learn in Cartherion?" Thor questioned Sif and Hogun as soon as Loki left with Katirya.

"This one," Sif pointed to Micarian, "claims that his sister disappeared from Cartherion and that the Council have placed an imposter on the throne pretending to be his sister. We," she glanced over at Hogun who nodded back, "believe him. It seems that there are some major problems in Cartherion, not the least being who the true ruler is."

"From what we can tell, that is his sister," Hogun gestured towards the door Loki had recently departed through, "and she might be the true queen."

"That IS my sister!" Micarian shouted. "And she IS the true ruler, if she controls the Cronuth Stone. But, where is the Stone? I did not see it with her."

"I have it," Thor held up the tiara. "She asked me to keep it safe. We should bring it to the Vaults along with the scepter."

Jane, who had been carrying the scepter since they left Earth, held it up and stared at it curiously. "What is it with these things? Why are they so important?"

"They are the Infinity Stones, at least we believe them all to be, along with the Tesseract and the Aether."

"The Tesseract?" Erik Selvig spoke up. "How? I do not understand. That was on Earth and Loki was using it to bring those aliens down."

"But, don't forget that S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to create weapons of mass destruction using it too," Tony Stark added.

"The Tesseract was hidden on Earth many years ago. Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D found it," Thor replied. "Katirya mentioned that there are others searching for the Stones, which was why we went to Earth to retrieve the scepter. They are powerful, and in the wrong hands can destroy the worlds as we know them."

"So, you just intend to collect them all here where Loki can get his hands on them?" Tony asked.

"Loki has no intention…" Thor struggled to defend his brother.

"No intention! Did you not happen to notice what he did on Earth?" Tony shouted. "I thought that was why you brought him back here, to face punishment? Instead you made him king?"

Thor noticed that the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three exchanged quick glances. This was the last thing he needed right now, more reasons for them to question his brother's rule.

"And didn't you take that Aether stuff and, like, destroy it?" Darcy asked.

"It cannot be destroyed. At least, we do not know how to, yet. The Aether has been sent somewhere safe."

"Is anywhere safe?" Ian finally spoke up.

"It would seem the answer to that is no." Loki said, entering the room.

Thor wondered how much he had overheard.

"Where is my sister?" Micarian demanded.

"She is resting. Why would the Council wish her dead? Why do they deny her if she is the true ruler?" Loki fired the questions at Micarian, striding over to stand in front of the man. "That dagger Mythean stabbed her with almost killed her."

"The Council is run by Mythean's family, and has been for many years. They refuse to relinquish power or to acknowledge that she is the true ruler. I…" Micarian hesitated for a moment, "I, too, find it hard to believe that Kiri has the power. She showed no aptitude for powers as she was growing up, but when it was her turn for testing, she controlled the Cronuth Stone and called upon the Thirteen. Then she disappeared. An imposter rules in her place, so I believed Mythean's family to be behind that. I thought at first they had killed her in order to take back control of the Council. Then Sif and Hogun appeared, saying Kiri was here. Why did she come here?"

"Why did she come here?" Thor echoed Micarian's question. "If she is the true ruler…"

_Author's note: I hope you have enjoyed this story. This tale has reached its conclusion, but… the story is not finished. I have started the next tale in this series, titled "Exile". I hope you will join me there as I continue with the , much thanks to my long time friend who has offered her services through this story as my beta.  
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